Flower Garden
by Yih
Summary: IC. A HYD Alternate Universe Fanfic, what if Tsukushi was a childhood playmate of F4 and Shizuka? A Rui x Tsukushi fanfic Review if you want me to continue!
1. Starting Out

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
1: Starting Out (November 17, 2002)  
  
"That's F4," remarked one student to another.  
  
"F4?" queried the new student, Yuki.  
  
"F4 are the most important people at Eitoku," the other student, Makiko explained. "They were the four families that started this school: the one with the curly hair is Doumyouji Tsukasa, the one with the long hair is Mimasaka Akira, the one next to him is Nishikado Soujirou, and the one trailing behind is Hanazawa Rui. Be careful not to annoy them, if they tag you, you're as good as dead to this school."  
  
"Whose that girl with them?"  
  
"That girl is Makino Tsukushi, she's always hanging around the F4, she's a childhood playmate of theirs. When Toudou Shizuka use to go to this school, those two were the only girls that were ever allowed to sit near them. You have to realize how jealous the other school girls are of them. Not only are Tsukushi and Shizuka rich and good-looking, they also are best friends with the F4! Also rumor has it that Tsukushi has an arranged marriage with one of the F4."  
  
"Really?" Yuki exclaimed. "Which one?"  
  
Makiko shrugged. "I have no idea, it's just a rumor. But I bet it's true too."  
  
"That..." Yuki began, but she couldn't finish because Makiko had grabbed her by the arm was pointing toward where the F4 were standing, where a very angry Tsukasa was glaring down at a girl called Sakurako, who had just run into him by accident while she was turning a corner.  
  
"You stupid girl!" Tsukasa exclaimed. "Watch where you're going!" He was about to push her aside when Tsukushi grabbed his hand.  
  
"Tsukasa," she warned, "don't you dare."  
  
He fixed his gaze on Tsukushi and shrugged. "Fine." He glared once more, menacingly at Sakurako. "Watch where you're going next time you stupid klutz." He then brushed pass the girl and continued walking, the rest following behind him.  
  
"Wow," Yuki murmured.  
  
"That's what I mean. Don't get on their bad side," Makiko warned. "It's just altogether bad news. Tsukushi's nice enough, but even she can't stop Tsukasa all the time. And the rest of the F4 could care less what Tsukasa does, only Tsukushi and Shizuka care. Just watch where you go."  
  
"I will."  
  
~  
  
"Why did you stop me?" Tsukasa asked.  
  
"She apologized," Tsukushi explained. "You've got to learn to show some mercy now and then. Besides, you know I don't like it when you do that."  
  
"You're always telling me what to do just like my older sister!" he cried out with frustration. The rest of the F4 just smiled, Tsukushi was exactly like his sister Tsubaki.  
  
"Someone has to tell you what to do now that she's in New York," she retorted. Tsukasa stared down at Tsukushi, trying to intimate her, but not succeeding. Instead, it only made Tsukushi laugh hard and she had to lean on Rui for support. "You know, you keep trying that glower at me and it never works."  
  
"TSUKUSHI!" cried out the ever familiar voice of Kazuya. "Where have you been all summer? I've been looking for everywhere!"  
  
All the F4 grimaced and Tsukasa pushed Kazuya away from Tsukushi. "Why don't you leave her alone, Kazuya? Can't you tell that she has better things to do than to hang around you?"  
  
Kazuya glanced at Tsukushi with his big puppy eyes. "Is that true?"  
  
If there was one thing that did annoy all the F4 about Tsukushi was that she was far too nice for her own good. "Of course not," she responded, "Tsukasa is just being rude like he's inclined to be. I was in Europe all summer with F4. I didn't get back until yesterday."  
  
"I see," Kazuya said dejectedly.  
  
"I'll call you sometime and we can hang out, okay?" Tsukushi remarked. Kazuya immediately brightened up and grinned like a silly fool, then proceeded to make his way to his classes, waving goodbye to Tsukushi and F4.  
  
"Why are you so nice to him?" Akira asked.  
  
"He's quite irritating," Soujirou agreed with Akira's unspoken, though between the lines comment.  
  
"He's a really nice boy, if a bit over energized," she responded. "Besides, my life is not about always hanging around you guys."  
  
"Oh, but it is," Soujirou said teasingly.  
  
"Oh, but it isn't," she replied back with an exaggerated disappointment that it wasn't as Soujirou had said.  
  
Akira snickered. "Of course, your life revolves around us. What would F4 be without Makino Tsukushi? You and Shizuka are definitely a very important part of our lifestyle."  
  
"I know that Shizuka is for you," she responded with a knowing wink, which caused Akira to blush as she planned. "But I will admit that you guys do hold a special place in my life."  
  
"We better," Tsukasa commented, wrapping his arm around Tsukushi's waist.  
  
Rui had been watching this exchanged and it always disturbed him that he was jealous watching his closest friends interacting with his best friend. But he was envious that they all could act with such a familiarity with her in public when he couldn't. He just wasn't like that when other people were watching. And he certainly didn't like to see Tsukasa's arm around Tsukushi's waist. Not being able to stand it anymore, he started to walk away so he didn't have to see it.  
  
"Rui!" Tsukushi cried out. "Where are you going?"  
  
He didn't even bother to answer her. He was too disturbed to respond to her when he normally would. He needed to be alone, and there was only one place in the school that he could truly be alone and think. So he started walking faster before she could persuade him to come back. Tsukushi was always able to do that, always able to reach him when he wanted to be left alone. She'd been the one that had made him crawl out from his shell. And it wasn't that he didn't want that, it was just that he was selfish and wanted her to pay attention only to him.  
  
"He's in one of those moods," Soujirou commented.  
  
"Looks like it," Akira agreed.  
  
"You'd better go after him," Soujirou remarked.  
  
"I know," she responded. She wondered what was up with him this time. He was very moody nowadays. It was almost like when he was a little kid. But she knew precisely where to find him. "I'll meet you guys later okay?"  
  
"Yeah, just hurry up," Tsukasa shouted, since Tsukushi was already running down the hallway after Rui. "Don't take all day talking with him like you're always doing!" It was well enough that Akira and Soujirou were there, but without Tsukushi, things quickly got boring for him. Somehow, Tsukushi always made everything interesting. Other than Tsubaki, Tsukushi was the only other female who he actually listened to what they were saying instead of letting it go in one ear and out the other.  
  
~  
  
F4 first met Tsukushi in elementary school when they were at the playground because she was hanging out in the best part of the playground, the exclusive spot that they hung out on. Tsukasa had walked up to her and yelled at her, "Get off those bars! Those are for the F4!"  
  
"Who says?" she retorted.  
  
"I say!" he yelled back.  
  
"So!"  
  
"Get off!" he shouted even louder.  
  
"No!"  
  
"Get off now!" he screamed.  
  
She stuck her tongue out and that was when Tsukasa pulled her by the leg off of the monkey bars. Of course, Tsukushi was two years younger than them. She was precisely 7 years old and so she tumbled off the bars because of his superior strength, which caused her to fall onto the ground. She would have been severely hurt, but Rui, who had been standing there watching the argument had taken a fascination with the little pixie child and had half caught her and half fell down trying to catch her.  
  
"Ouch!" cried the little girl Tsukushi. "That hurt." She glanced down and saw that she was sitting on top of a boy. She quickly scampered off of him and reached down with her hand to help him up. "Sorry for landing on you. But thanks for helping me! I'm Tsukushi!"  
  
Rui looked at her hand before taking it. She pulled him up, rather she tried to pull him up; he got up on his own accord. He stared down at her; she was beaming at him. "Did you hear me?" she asked. "I'm Tsukushi. Who are you?"  
  
He blinked. "Hanazawa Rui."  
  
"You're much nicer than that curly hair boy over there!" she exclaimed. "Bye Rui!" She waved at him before running toward her teacher, who was calling in the class.  
  
Tsukasa just grumbled and sat down on the ground. "Why did you help that little brat, Rui?"  
  
Rui shrugged and swung up on the monkey bars, hanging upside down like Shizuka had told him when he wanted to cry. He didn't want to cry, but he did want to think. For him it was the same, to cry or to think. So he hung upside down and thought. He liked that little girl, Tsukushi. She was very alive, very emotional as well. She was very different from him.  
  
~  
  
Staring at the bright blue sky, he sighed and bent his head down to rest on his knees. This was the only place that he could at least hear some silence now and then when there wasn't a rustling noise happening in another part of the school that echoed over to where he was. He didn't know why he got this feeling, this jealous feeling so intensely now. It'd always been there, even when they were still in elementary, but it hadn't been that bad until recently. Now, it was bad.  
  
Maybe it was because he got less time to spend with Tsukushi alone. It wasn't necessarily that they didn't talk to each other, but it was because they didn't have enough time to spend together in companionable silence now that Tsukushi had so many other things to do other than to keep him company. And when he did have a chance to be with Tsukushi, Tsukasa and Soujirou and Akira were always dragging her away and she ended up dragging him along with her to bar after bar, club after club. He didn't mind going, it was just he didn't want to go when he had a chance to be alone with Tsukushi.  
  
"I thought you'd be here," Tsukushi remarked. "Why did you run off like that Rui?"  
  
He lifted his head up from his lap and stared at her, beyond please that she'd come. He didn't say anything only tilted his head to the side, a signal for her to sit next to him. And sit next to him she did. After she sat next to him, she stared at him briefly before looking out at the sky like he'd been doing for the past few minutes. She didn't say anything for a while and neither did he. They just sat together like they had when they were little kids.  
  
~  
  
"Do you always come to this corner when it's playtime?" Tsukushi asked. He nodded. "Can I sit down?" He nodded again. She sat down next to him and looked up at the sky like he was doing. "It's a really pretty day." He nodded in agreement. "You don't talk much do you?" He shrugged. "That's okay," she exclaimed. "Sometimes quiet time is nice."  
  
He had turned his head to stare at her, having a strange feeling about this little girl. No one had ever said to him before that they actually liked silence before. Even Shizuka didn't understand why he like to have peace and quiet. But this little girl understood? That was amazing and yet, the more he stared at her, the more he saw that she wasn't all there. She was thinking about something else. "What are you thinking about?" he asked. He had to ask a second time before he caught her attention.  
  
"Oh, I was looking at that bird over there," Tsukushi told him, pointing to it. "I like to make up stories in my mind about the things that I see. I get pretty lost in my dreams sometimes. That's why I got mad at your friend when he was trying to get me off the monkey bars. I was dreaming and he bothered me, so I got upset."  
  
"It's okay, he upsets most people. He's very noisy," Rui responded. "But he's a pretty good friend once you get to know him. The only one that has any control over what he does is his older sister, Tsubaki."  
  
"I think you'd make a good friend," she said. "So do you want to be friends?"  
  
He glanced at the little girl, the cute little girl that he liked when he first saw her arguing with Tsukasa for some reason. "Yes," he answered, "I do."  
  
~  
  
"I know you're upset," Tsukushi said, breaking the silence. "You're upset with me, aren't you?"  
  
He was and he wasn't. He was more upset with himself that he was getting upset. It wasn't like Tsukushi wasn't good friends with the rest of the F4 as well as him. Between the five of them, they were a very close knit group of friends. The only person that was missing was Shizuka. It was because of Tsukushi he was feeling this way and it was because of how the other F4 acted and it was because he was selfish and he wanted Tsukushi's full attention.  
  
"You're in one of those moods again," she commented. "If you aren't going to tell me why you're upset, I'm going to leave because there are things that I have to do."  
  
She stood up and was about to move when he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back down. "Don't go."  
  
She glanced down at him, half standing, half sitting- crouching. "What's the matter, Rui?"  
  
"I miss not having you here to just sit with me," he explained. "I miss not being able to talk to you like we use to."  
  
She understood. There hadn't been much time recently for her to just sit with him and to talk with him like they'd done for the longest time. She'd missed it as well, but she hadn't known Rui had missed it. Sometimes, even she couldn't tell what went in his mind, though she knew he could read her better than anyone. He was adept at reading anyone well, but especially her. She smiled and kissed his forehead. "Silly boy," she muttered, "why didn't you tell me that?" 


	2. Neverending Day

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Yes, the group dynamic has to change since Tsukushi is there. Also, there are small personality changes since Tsukushi has an affect on F4! Tsukushi, herself is different b/c she's not poor = ). Let me know what relationship you'd like to see that I'm hinting or even those that I'm not. Keep reviewing though please! I wrote this fast because of the support! Thanks and enjoy!  
  
2: Neverending Day (November 18, 2002 to November 19, 2002)  
  
"WHERE IS SHE?" roared Tsukasa to F2. They shrugged, but they both thought one thing simultaneously: Tsukushi was definitely still with Rui. Their nonchalant respond was only making Tsukasa more ticked off. He'd been okay with the fact that Tsukushi hadn't been in class, but he was getting really angry since lunch was here and there was no sign of her at all!  
  
"I thought I told her to hurry up," he growled. "I knew it. She and Rui talk way, way too much when they get alone and they just lose all track of time! It's so annoying! Rui never has anything to say, so why do they always have to talk so long to each other? That's so frustrating!"  
  
Soujirou mimicked Tsukasa by silent yelling at Akira, who in turned shouted back at Soujirou as Tsukushi would have done. They ended up breaking out in hysterical laughter, finally drawing Tsukasa's angry attentions. "What are you two doing?"  
  
Akira was the first one to get his laughter in control and he remarked, "Why mimicking your upcoming conversation with Tsukushi of course."  
  
"It'll be a very intriguing affair, I gather," Soujirou commented. "I imagine you'll scream at her and she'll shout at you and then you'll end up conceding as you always do to her."  
  
Tsukasa directed his glare at Soujirou. "I do not always concede to her!"  
  
Both Akira and Soujirou shared a 'yeah sure' look, then they ended up snickering, which only drew a more menacingly glare at them from Tsukasa. Not that it did anything except make them laugh harder since Tsukasa wasn't able to intimidate anyone in the F4 or Tsukushi or Shizuka. And since Tsukasa didn't have anything else to direct his attentions to since Tsukushi wasn't there, he kept looking at F2 furiously.  
  
~  
  
Glancing down at Tsukushi briefly, soaking in the simple beauty of her radiant smile. Yes, he knew that Tsukushi wasn't anybody's standard of beauty, but he found her to be a very beautiful person by her inner self. And he also happened to think that when she smiled, she just glowed with that inner beauty. He smiled to himself and looked up again and away from her. He didn't want her to catch him looking at her, at least not in the way he'd been looking at her.  
  
"What did you dream about last night?" he asked.  
  
She tilted her head to the side and tried to recall her dream. "I'm not exactly sure what I dreamt about," she responded, "I can't really remember as well as you can. I really ought to take your advise and jot down my dream as soon as I wake up, since that's when it's the clearest."  
  
"Try to remember," he urged.  
  
"Well," she began, "I remember walking, I'm not really sure where. Then things get blurry and then I think I was sitting down on the grass in a park and I was talking to someone. Whatever we were talking about wasn't memorable. The last thing I remember was holding someone's hand."  
  
"My dream was the same one I've been having since we left Germany," he told her. "I keep remembering that I'm standing on a hill waiting for someone, but I don't know who that person is. The more I dream it, the closer I get to finding out who that person is, but I still haven't quite gotten there. But whoever that person is has moved from the other hill to the valley between the hill I stand on and one the person was standing on."  
  
"That's an interesting dream. I hope it's revealed to you soon," she murmured. "I wish I dreamt as vividly as you did. I envy you that, that you can dream and remember your dreams. But then again I get to hear about your dreams, so I guess that's the next best thing to actually being able to dream them myself."  
  
He smiled at her. "If you want, I'll tell them to you whenever I remember my dreams."  
  
She smiled back at him. "I'd like that a lot." She glanced down at her watch. "I think it's time we better go. We've been up here for a long time, and I'm getting pretty hungry. I bet you are too since there are two things about you that I definitely know: you like to eat and to sleep."  
  
He nodded. "Let's go." He offered her his hand to help lift her up and she took it gratefully. Together, they walked in the direction of the cafeteria. It wasn't long before they neared the cafeteria and once in view, Tsukasa who had finally gotten Akira and Soujirou to agree to help him look for Tsukushi, immediately spotted her walking back with Rui.  
  
"TSUKUSHI!" he shouted. "Where have you been?"  
  
"With Rui," she responded simply. "Where did you think I was?"  
  
"Didn't you remember me telling you to hurry back?" he asked her with irritation. "And there you go run off with Rui and don't even think about taking care of yourself! Come on," he commanded, grabbed her by the arm and dragging her into the cafeteria. Tsukushi had this exasperated look on her face, but there was nothing she could do about it since she had forgotten about what Tsukasa had said and she wasn't strong enough to pull herself from out of his reach.  
  
"Sit down," he ordered and then marched off to go get Tsukushi some food. By the time he brought back the food, he found that both places next to Tsukushi were taken and so was the seat in front of her. He glared at Akira, but he wasn't going to move from his spot to her right; Rui definitely wasn't moving where he sat to the left; Soujirou was happily sitting in front of Tsukushi, teasing her as normal. Tsukasa growled and still no one moved. He had no choice but to set the food in front of Tsukushi and sit next to Soujirou.  
  
"Eat!" he commanded her, shoving the food closer to her.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Okay, you bossy man, I'll eat." She took a bit and then nudged Rui to eat as well.  
  
When Rui was about to grab something off her plate, Tsukasa knocked his hand aside. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked him.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Tsukushi retorted. "You always get me too much food, this is plenty for both of us. Stop being so overbearing!"  
  
"But he was taking your food!"  
  
She rolled her eyes again. "Because I was letting him!" she exclaimed. "Stop acting like such a child, Tsukasa. I'm sick of that! You need to grow up sometime. And," she remarked when she heard the bell ringing, "we need to get to class. I'll see you guys later."  
  
F4 watched as she ran off towards her class. Both Akira and Soujirou took the opportunity to poke fun at Tsukasa, while Rui simply stood up and went to his class, since he knew that Tsukushi wouldn't be going back to the stairs today at least. He could always hope for tomorrow.  
  
~  
  
"Both Rui and Tsukasa have changed when we got to know Tsukushi way back when," remarked Akira to Soujirou as they were walking to their last class. It wasn't as if they needed to go to class, but they didn't have anything to do this afternoon so they figured they might as well go.  
  
Soujirou nodded. "It's not like we haven't changed since getting to know her either. She's just so Tsukushi. It's hard not to know her and not to change. She's kind of infectious."  
  
"But Rui has really become more active over the years though. He use to always like to go off by himself, but when he met Tsukushi in the playground that day, he actually doesn't mind her company when he wants to think," Akira murmured.  
  
"And Tsukasa has definitely learned to not be so quick to action, well he's still got a mad as hell temper, but at least he's not striking out at people like he use to. He still did that here until Tsukushi entered the school. He hasn't stuck a tag on anyone for the longest time," Soujirou reflected. "He's so childish and he doesn't listen to anyone at all, he listens to Tsukushi at least half the time." He shook his head. "But the other half of the time, he should be listening to her."  
  
Akira nodded. "Yeah, but you can't help that. That's Tsukasa. At least now, he considers what Tsukushi says. They still argue like they did when they were children. It doesn't help that Tsukasa is still wrong nearly all the time, though." He snickered. "It's hilarious though."  
  
Soujirou grinned. "Very much so. So where we going tonight?"  
  
~  
  
A soft happy ring interrupted the lecture that the history teacher was delivering. The teacher turned around about to glare and chew off the head of whomever the phone belonged to, but the frown quickly left his face when he saw that it was Makino Tsukushi's cell. "Would you like to go outside and answer the call?" he inquired instead.  
  
Tsukushi nodded. "Yes," she answered. She quickly rose up from her seat and headed to the hallway where she pushed the receive button. "Shizuka!" she cried out excitedly. "How are you? Why are you calling me in school?"  
  
"I'm doing really well. You're still in school?" Shizuka queried. "I thought it was four over there."  
  
"It's still two. You're off by two hours," remarked Tsukushi. "So what's up? Why the call?"  
  
"I thought you might like to know that I'll be back home tonight," Shizuka informed her.  
  
"Really? You're really coming back from France? Of course, I'd want to know! I can't believe you're finally coming back! It's been far too long since I've seen you. You could contact me more than you do, you know, Shizuka," Tsukushi responded. "You think you'd at least call your god- sister more than once a week!"  
  
Shizuka chuckled. "I try my best, it's just things are more hectic here than I even imagined. Trying to juggle my modeling career and my schoolwork is driving me crazy. I'm not quite as composed and organized that you think I am, little god-sister."  
  
"So when are you getting back and what's your flight number?" Tsukushi asked happily. "I'll need to know this stuff so I can pick you up tonight."  
  
~  
  
"Why are you wearing that silly grin on your face?" Akira asked, after just getting pounced by Tsukushi who he found was even in a more energetic mood than she was normally in. She was usually cheerful and good natured, only around Tsukasa was she ever a shrew, but she was even more so now than earlier.  
  
Tsukushi just continued to grin after he asked, and she held up three fingers. "I'll give you three guesses, and if you fail to guess right, then I will just have to tell you!"  
  
"If you're going to tell me even if I get it wrong, then why should I guess?" Akira replied sardonically.  
  
Tsukushi pouted. "What's the fun in it if you don't at least try?"  
  
Soujirou laughed. "Come on, Akira, make three guesses. It won't hurt you."  
  
Akira grumbled, but finally relented. "You're happy that you skipped classes and talked with Rui?"  
  
"That's not it."  
  
"You're happy that Tsukasa listens to you?" She shook her head. "I don't know," Akira said lamely. "You're going to have to tell me."  
  
If possible, her grin got even larger as she exclaimed, "Shizuka's coming back!" Akira's eyes widened and he started running toward his car, which caused Tsukushi to laugh and call out after him, "Hey! You don't know when she's coming in or her flight number!"  
  
Akira made a dead stop and turned around and grabbed Tsukushi's hand, pulling her toward his car. At this point, Soujirou was laughing out of controllably at the sight, while Rui and Tsukasa had just arrived at the scene and didn't have a clue what was going on. Rui wasn't that alarmed to see Akira dragging Tsukushi because he'd gotten a message on his cell that Shizuka was coming back, and he guessed accurately that was the reason Akira was tugging Tsukushi.  
  
But of course, Tsukasa didn't have the slightest idea so he shouted, "What are you doing Akira?!"  
  
Akira didn't stop propelling Tsukushi forward or even answer Tsukasa, he just opened the door and allowed Tsukushi to climb in and then rushed to the other side of the car and hopped in. He was about to gun the engine when Tsukushi stopped him by saying, "She's not coming back until tonight. We've still got hours before we've got to meet her."  
  
He relaxed and leaned back against his seat. "When is she coming in?" he questioned.  
  
"Almost midnight," Tsukushi answered.  
  
He sighed heavily and turned on the engine. "I think I'm going to kill some time before I go meet her at the airport, do you want to come along with me?"  
  
Tsukushi nodded. "Sure," she answered. "But wait, I think the rest of them want to come along as well." She gestured to F3, who were walking up to Akira's car.  
  
Soujirou had already explained that Shizuka was coming back to Tsukasa, so when Akira rolled down the window, Tsukasa asked in a more civilized voice, "When is she coming in?"  
  
"Tonight," Akira answered, "do you guys want to kill some time with me and Tsukushi?" F3 nodded and Akira started backing his car out. "I'm going to the usual place, meet up with me and Tsukushi there!" With that remark, Akira sped up in his car with Tsukushi.  
  
Tsukasa grumbled, the day wasn't going well at all. He'd not even had time to get into a proper half hour shouting match with Tsukushi yet. It was almost like a daily ritual. It wasn't that he enjoyed those verbal spars, but he was exceedingly use to them by now. Well, he didn't enjoy them most of the times that he was wrong, but he did miss not being able to interact with Tsukushi at all. First, Rui had taken her off and then it was Akira. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Soujirou and Rui walking over to their respective cars. Soujirou better not be the third one. 


	3. Nighttime Revelry

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Let me know what relationship you'd like to see that I'm hinting or even those that I'm not. Keep reviewing though please! I wrote this fast because of the support! Thanks and enjoy!  
  
3: Nighttime Revelry (November 20, 2002 to November 21, 2002)  
  
At a local and popular dance club, F4 and Tsukushi were sitting in a more private and exclusive corner where the music wasn't quite so blaring so that they could actually hear themselves speak. As usual, Tsukasa was ribbing Akira without mercy about his infatuation with older women, which was why he drove them to a club with an older crowd. When Akira had finally had enough of this, he snapped, "I chose this club because it's not quite as irritating as the places that you like to choose. The drinks are good and they actually serve drinkable nonalcoholic stuff that Tsukushi can drink."  
  
Tsukasa snorted and was about to make another snide, immature remark when Tsukushi elbowed him in the stomach. "What did you do that for?" he shouted at her.  
  
She glared at him and stood up from her seat; she went over to Akira and tapped him on the shoulder. "Come on," she urged, holding out her hand to him, "I know that you like this song."  
  
He smiled gratefully at her and took her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor. While watching them dance, Tsukasa started getting redder and redder since the more the dance progressed, the closer Tsukushi and Akira got. Soujirou had more fun watching Tsukasa's rage than the fluid movements of the dancing couple. Finally when he couldn't stand it anymore, he burst out laughing. Rui didn't mind watching Tsukushi dance with Akira because he knew that the only one that Akira liked was Shizuka. So he watched and kept an eye on his cell phone incase Shizuka messaged him.  
  
"You're getting much better," Akira commented as the music started winding down.  
  
A slightly out of breath Tsukushi responded, "Thanks to you of course! I could have never learn to dance that well without you teaching me and making me dance whenever we go to a club. Soujirou and Rui are good for practicing, but you make me work to keep up with you."  
  
Akira grinned. "It's the only way for you to get better."  
  
She smiled back at him and they headed back toward the tables. Tsukasa was standing up as they were coming back, but before he could reach Tsukushi, Soujirou grabbed her hand first. Soujirou lead her out to the dance floor, while a still smiling Akira sat down next to Rui and asked, "Any messages from Shizuka?"  
  
Shaking his head, Rui answered softly, "No. Her flight must be non-stop."  
  
"Does she still message you often?" asked Akira wistfully.  
  
Rui shook his head again. "No, she says she's been very busy. I think she contacts Tsukushi the most, but that's because Tsukushi and her are as close as any sisters can be."  
  
Akira shrugged. He was about to say something to Rui again, but Rui had already risen from his seat to make his way to the returning Tsukushi. Turning his head to where Tsukasa was sitting, Akira bit back the urge to laugh because one of the serving girls was trying to hook up with Tsukasa and wasn't giving up easily despite Tsukasa's abrupt rudeness. When Tsukasa was finally able to get rid of the girl, it was already too late since Rui was walking to the middle of the dance floor with Tsukushi.  
  
Tsukasa cursed and both Akira and Soujirou started laughing. They couldn't help themselves. It was clear to anyone that had eyes that Tsukasa badly liked Tsukushi, except for the clueless Tsukushi. Well, she wasn't exactly clueless, she just didn't want to see that Tsukasa was crazy about her and so was Rui for the matter, thought Akira to himself. She never considered guys liking her in that way.  
  
"You've been quiet all night," remarked Tsukushi into Rui's ear. She was relieved that this was actually a slow dance because she was getting a bit breathless from all the fast dancing. And it did feel comfortable to be in Rui's arms. She'd feel a little awkward if it was even Akira or Soujirou and most of all Tsukasa, but with Rui--- it felt normal and safe.  
  
"I'm always like that," he responded. He was. Even though he was more talkative with Tsukushi, he wasn't really all that much different from when he was little. Actually, the only one that he was really different around with Tsukushi because she had really affected him when he had met her. He didn't feel awkward to act like a more outgoing Rui to her.  
  
The music was starting to end, but Rui didn't loosen his hold on her. When she started to pull away, he kept holding on to her. "One more dance?" he asked.  
  
She nodded. Since he asked, she was more than happy to comply. She smiled and started to move to the faster beat of the music and Rui followed her guidance for a while before taking over. Both of them were good at judging the beat of the music and their rhythm together was perfect, not because they danced with each other, but because they both played music with each other often and knew how each other liked to count the rhythm.  
  
"Why aren't they coming back?" Tsukasa fumed. "They've already danced once! Now they're dancing twice?!" Soujirou and Akira looked at each other knowingly, while Tsukasa continued to have an irritated and highly annoyed expression on his face. The more he watched, the more dissatisfied he got. He wanted to be the one that was dancing with Tsukushi. It didn't matter that they always got into an argument and she stepped on his toes like a total klutz. He wanted to be the one that she was next to!  
  
~  
  
"Why are you always going off with that brat?" Tsukasa yelled at Rui.  
  
Even though little Tsukushi glanced briefly at the loud, obnoxious Tsukasa, Rui kept on walking like Tsukasa hadn't even spoken to him. And so Tsukushi scampered quickly to catch up to Rui, while F3 watched to see what the two of them were going to do. Nothing truly remarkable happened: Rui got onto the monkey bars and hung himself upside down while Tsukushi watched him.  
  
F3 were about to go off and play one of their wild and boisterous games when they heard Tsukushi playing around and talking. As they moved in closer, they heard what she was saying much more clearly. "Nanny use to tell me this story all the time, but then she got sick and now she doesn't come anymore. There was once this little boy and this little girl and they were always playing with each other because there was no one else to play with. The little boy would want to play with sticks, but the little girl would want to play with dolls. But the boy would relent and play with the girl because she was smaller than he was.  
  
"The girl would always be very happy and that would make the boy happy. One day, however, the little boy didn't show up at the playground and the little girl got really worried about him. So she went to his house and found out he was really sick and that he was getting sicker each day. So everyday she'd come over to his house and play sticks with him, making him really happy. There's more of the story, but I'll tell you some other time because that's how much nanny would tell me every time I asked her to begin it," Tsukushi told him.  
  
"But I like this story because it's nice that the boy would try to make the girl happy and that the girl would then try to make the boy happy. Does anybody make you happy, Rui?" she asked. He blinked and closed his eyes, thinking of a moment before he shook his head. "Are you sure?" she inquired. "Something has to make you happy. Why do you hang upside down on the monkey bars if it doesn't make you happy?"  
  
He shrugged. He didn't really know why other than that Shizuka had suggested it to him if he ever wanted to cry, and he almost always wanted to cry and to think, so he hung himself upside down whenever he could. "Shizuka told me to hang upside down whenever I want to cry."  
  
"You want to cry? Why?" asked Tsukushi.  
  
"I don't know," he answered softly.  
  
During this enlightening conversation that F3 were listening in on, Soujirou and Akira both came to the delightful conclusion that Tsukushi was a cute little kid and that she wasn't a brat at all. However, Tsukasa poked both of them and retorted, "Let's go play. That brat's so boring."  
  
Both Soujirou and Akira looked at each other and at Tsukasa before Soujirou replied, "This is getting interesting. Have you ever seen Rui talk to a person other than Shizuka before? I haven't."  
  
"Neither have I," Akira added.  
  
Tsukasa huffed, but he didn't move from where he was standing. She's boring, he thought, but he didn't want to stop watching her entertain and talk to Rui for some reason. It wasn't because of the fascination that Rui was actually speaking because he wasn't looking at Rui, he was staring at Tsukushi.  
  
~  
  
It was nearly midnight when they hit the airport. But they still had to wait almost an hour before Shizuka's flight arrived because there had been a slight delay because of the heavy turbulence across the Pacific Ocean. Tsukushi finally had to tell Akira to sit down because he was starting to make her anxious from his continuous pacing up and down the aisle. Both Soujirou and Tsukasa agreed with her. Rui, as normal, was off by himself--- staring out at the flickering lights of the planes coming in and those that were going out.  
  
"I think her flight is coming in," Rui stated.  
  
F3 and Tsukushi quickly jump up from their seats and rush to the window and looked where Rui pointed. "Can anyone read the flight number?" Akira asked. Everyone shook their heads and Akira squinted and confirmed, "It's her flight alright."  
  
F4 and Tsukushi quickly made their way to the gate where they waited for what seemed like forever for Shizuka to walk out. Eventually, people started streaming out of the plane, but there was no sign of Shizuka yet. Akira was getting more anxious by the minute when Shizuka appeared out of the gate, dragging her carryon suitcases. Soujirou and Tsukushi shoved Akira toward Shizuka.  
  
"What are you doing tugging all those bags?" Akira asked sharply.  
  
Shizuka smiled. "Why don't you say, 'hi Shizuka, welcome back?' before you start asking me questions, okay?"  
  
He broke out into a grin and Shizuka dropped her bags as he reached to hug her tightly. "Welcome home, Shizuka. I've missed you a lot."  
  
"I've missed you as well," she murmured.  
  
"So," Tsukasa interrupted by asking, "why did you bring all these bags with you?"  
  
Shizuka grinned, while Akira had an irritated expression on his face. "Well, it'd be a lot quicker getting out of the airport if I brought my bags with me, right?"  
  
Tsukushi pounced on both Akira and Shizuka, hugging both of them energetically. "I'm so glad you're back, Shizuka! I've missed you so much!"  
  
"I've missed all of you," Shizuka responded. "It's good to be back home." Soujirou and then Tsukasa hugged her. But Rui stood apart, watching, but not approaching to receive his hug. "Rui, aren't you glad to see me?" she teased. He nodded. "Then why don't you give me a hug?"  
  
Slowly, Rui approached her and she hugged him. While they were hugging, he whispered softly so only she could hear, "Are you staying permanently this time?"  
  
She leaned back and stared at him momentarily, but she didn't answer him. She smiled at the rest of them and exclaimed, "Let's get going! I'm really quite tired after that long flight! I think I need a long night or else I'll be positively hideous tomorrow!"  
  
Soujirou chuckled. "You could never look hideous."  
  
Akira agreed, offering to take all of her bags, though Tsukushi got Tsukasa and Soujirou to help. "You always look beautiful, Shizuka. Shall we drop you straight off at your house?"  
  
"No," Shizuka responded, "not right away. I want to drive around a bit with Tsukushi and talk with her, if you don't mind. You live the closest to her, don't you Akira?"  
  
Akira nodded. He didn't mind at all if he got to spend more time with her and he knew that Tsukushi didn't mind.  
  
~  
  
The next morning at Eitoku, there was a lot of gossiping since Toudou Shizuka had showed up at the school this morning with F4 and Tsukushi. There was actually a large circle gathered around the group, though none of the students dare get too close for fear that one of the F4 would get angry with them. But they were eager to find out what Toudou Shizuka was doing back here at Eitoku.  
  
"What's going on?" Yuki asked. "Some kind of assembly or something?"  
  
Makiko shook her head. "No, Toudou Shizuka came back to school today! She's back from France where she's been studying and modeling for the past year."  
  
"Really, she's back?" Yuki queried with a look of awe. She might have been new at the school, but she had heard enough about the perfect Toudou Shizuka to have an inspiring admiration for the young woman. Not only was she rich and good-looking, but was also blessed with a kind and caring heart as well as talent and intelligence! "Does that mean she isn't modeling in France anymore?"  
  
"Well," Makiko responded, "no one really knows why she's back. But she is back. Akira should be happy."  
  
"Akira? Why?" Yuki questioned.  
  
"Because," Makiko answered softly, "he's been crazy about her ever since he started high school. It's probably been longer than that. I only know since high school since that's when I started to know the F4. As I said, Tsukushi and Shizuka are childhood friends with F4, really good friends, it only make sense that the F4 like them, right?"  
  
"Right," Yuki agreed. As she thought about what Makiko said, she inquired, "Then which of the F4 likes Tsukushi?"  
  
"Definitely Tsukasa," Makiko replied instantly, "and I don't know about the other two. She hangs out quite a bit with Rui, but I can't really tell if he likes her or if she likes him as anymore than as friends. But Tsukasa definitely does like Tsukushi." 


	4. Made Engagements

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Let me know what relationship you'd like to see that I'm hinting or even those that I'm not. Keep reviewing though please!  
  
4: Made Engagements (November 21, 2002 to November 23, 2002)  
  
Everything at Eitoku had finally toned down since it was becoming a pretty common sight to see the famous model Shizuka come to eat lunch with the F4 and Tsukushi everyday. But still even after a week, there would still be some students buzzing around them, which tended at best to get Tsukasa to shout at them to leave them alone. Though, it had decidedly lessened.  
  
"Finally!" Tsukasa exclaimed. "Where have you two been?" he asked Rui and Tsukushi, both of whom had just arrived for lunch. Usually, Rui didn't eat lunch very often with them in the cafeteria and sometimes Tsukushi would go eat with them, but since Shizuka was here--- they came to the cafeteria everyday now--- which Tsukasa was definitely enjoying.  
  
"Sorry, I got a call from my mother," explained Tsukushi.  
  
"I'm sorry, my father called me," Rui also explained.  
  
Both Akira and Shizuka raised a concerned eyebrow, while Soujirou remarked dryly, "Tsukasa was getting so worried that you two were doing something you two shouldn't be doing somewhere else."  
  
Tsukasa blushed, but he didn't bother denying it which caused everyone to laugh except Rui, but then again that didn't surprise anyone since Rui didn't show much expression anyways. "So how's everyone doing?" Tsukushi greeted pleasantly, trying to smooth everything over so Soujirou and Tsukasa didn't get into one of their silly arguments.  
  
"Good," Tsukasa responded, "better if everyone can come over to my beach house tonight."  
  
"Tonight?" Akira queried. "Why tonight?"  
  
"Well," Tsukasa explained, "it's Friday so we can stay the entire weekend over at the place, and it's really nice this time of year. It'll be like old times when we use to stay over at each other's houses on the weekends. How does it sound? The whole gang hasn't been together in so long..."  
  
All of them were looking at Tsukasa with amazement, which caused him to shout out, "What are you guys looking at me like that for?!" They nodded, it was Tsukasa alright, for a moment they had thought something had overcome him since he'd actually had a good idea for once.  
  
"I'm game," Soujirou responded.  
  
"That sounds like fun," Shizuka murmured, which caused Akira to nod that he'd go too.  
  
Tsukasa looked at Rui and Tsukushi, both of whom had said nothing. "What about you two?"  
  
"I can't," Tsukushi began.  
  
"Neither can I," Rui continued.  
  
"I have a meeting with my parents," both said simultaneously, which caused the others to look at them strangely. Tsukushi looked at Rui; he looked at her. "I can meet up with you later tonight, and I guess Rui will too?" she questioned.  
  
"My meeting will probably take longer," Rui answered calmly. "But I will be there."  
  
~  
  
"Tsukushi, what have I told you about dressing nicer when we have a dinner engagement?" her mother said sharply. "Oh, for how long and how hard I've tried to groom you into the perfectly respectable society lady like Shizuka, I cannot get you even to her level. What a tragedy! What a failure of a mother I've been!"  
  
"You picked this outfit for me when you bought it," Tsukushi reminded.  
  
Her mother nodded. "But it was only meant for an afternoon outfit. For a dinner engagement, you should at least be wearing a skirt, preferably an elegant gown!"  
  
Tsukushi sighed. Her mother got a little out of hand when it came to fashion. She did admit that her mother certainly knew how to dress, but sometimes her mother had the tendency to overdress for an affair. "Okay, I'll dress nicer next time."  
  
"Hmph," her mother responded, "walk faster Tsukushi, or else we'll be later than we already are!"  
  
"Yes mother," Tsukushi replied, "I'm walking as fast as I can in these outrageous heels that you chose for me! If you wanted me to walk faster, you should have chosen more sensible shoes for me to wear!"  
  
"Tsk, tsk," her mother remarked, "if you had practiced with those high heels that I gave you when you were younger you'd have no problem walking around now as fast as you needed to. Why is it I that gets stuck with such an difficult daughter? It's a tragedy, truly a tragedy!"  
  
~  
  
"You're late Rui," his father stated severely. "It's a good thing that our guests haven't arrived yet or else this tardiness would have been unacceptable!"  
  
"Yes father," he responded softly. "I understand."  
  
"What your wearing is also entirely unacceptable! Whenever I call you to have a meeting in the evening, that calls for formal wear, not what you wear to school!" his father reminded him sharply. "If you had arrived on time, if you had arrived early, then you would have had the opportunity to change! So that at least you would look respectable, as suits the heir to the Hanazawa Corporation!"  
  
"Yes father," Rui replied. "I'm sorry that I didn't arrive earlier. I didn't know that this meeting was anything more than a casual business affair."  
  
"You should never assume," his father reminded him sternly. "Ask if you don't know. Haven't I told you that since you were born to never be ignorant about things? That will get you killed in the business world if you don't know what you're doing! You'll never know who you'll offend and how it will hurt your interests, so you should always come prepared with as much information as you'll need!"  
  
Rui nodded. He didn't have to answer his father this time because his father was turning his attentions over to the door where the guests were arriving. Slowly, he turned his head toward the direction that his father was looking. When the guests made their way in, Rui's eyes widened immensely. He wondered what Tsukushi was doing here with her mother.  
  
When Tsukushi entered and saw Rui and his father, she stood paralyzed for a few moments before she continue walking, trying to look like nothing was wrong. She whispered to her mother, "Why is Hanazawa Rui here?"  
  
Her mother didn't answer her, instead she went up to Rui's father and greeted in a warm, infectious voice, "Oh, my daughter and I are so sorry that we are late. But you know how it is with the traffic nowadays. The streets are just so congested at this time of night. We really do apologize, but we are here now. Your wife couldn't come?"  
  
His father shook his head. "No, she has an important meeting for her own business in Australia right now. What about your husband?"  
  
Her mother giggle like a young girl. "My husband is busy in Hong Kong trying to start another branch of our business there, but you know how hard it is since Hong Kong has become part of China now. It wasn't as easy nor is it such a good place. But my husband is so stubborn. He insists we must have a foothold there."  
  
"Quite understandable," his father responded. "Awww, this must be the lovely Makino Tsukushi that I've heard so much about from my wife. I'm Hanazawa Rui's father, it's nice to meet you, Tsukushi." He bowed to her and she immediately bowed lower than he did to show her reverence to him as an older person.  
  
"It's very nice to meet you, too, sir," she replied immediately. "Good evening, Rui," she greeted with a warm smile, her face really lit up when she smiled.  
  
His father stared at her while she interacted with Rui, thinking that his wife had picked a very common-looking girl for Rui. But when she smiled, he vaguely remembered a cute little girl that was always around the house with Rui and Shizuka when they were little. He'd never met her, but he had seen her around. Though, he had to admit, she really was quite pretty when she smiled, but nothing compared to Shizuka of course. "Well," he remarked to her mother, "we might as well tell them the reason that we arranged this meeting."  
  
Her mother agreed. "Shall I tell them or would you like the honor?" He gestured for her to go ahead. "The reason that we wanted this meeting is..." her mother paused dramatically, "is to tell you of your arranged marriage to each other! Isn't that terribly exciting?"  
  
Both Rui and Tsukushi stare at their parents in absolute shock because both of them were thinking that this was a business meeting, not an arranged engagement, since both of them considered themselves far too young to be thinking about marriage. "Well," her mother continued, "when your mother," she said to Rui, "and I saw how well you and Tsukushi got along, we decided that our arrangement would work very well. The two of you were engaged before you even met, didn't it turn out wonderfully?"  
  
Backing up slowly away from Tsukushi and his father and her mother, Rui shook his head in disbelief. Thoughts flash in his head of how Tsukushi always kept him company when they were little children, how she was always willing to sit in silence with him, how she was always so understanding and patient with him, how she was always humoring him, and how unfailing kind she always was to him. It was all because of this arranged marriage, that was why she was so nice to him.  
  
Tsukushi wasn't even aware that Rui was backing up because she was still staring dumbstruck at both her mother and his father. She didn't even turn back until his father asked sternly, "Where are you going, Rui?"  
  
Not answering his father, Rui left the room quickly. Tsukushi turned around and saw Rui's disappearing back. "Don't worry," she declared, "I'll get him."  
  
His father nodded and Tsukushi ran out of the room after Rui. It took her a moment to decide which direction Rui had gone. She nearly missed it, but she recognized his silhouette and shouted, "Rui! Wait!"  
  
Whirling around, Rui exclaimed sharply, sounding eerily like his father, "Did you befriend me when we were little because of that--- that arrangement?!"  
  
Tsukushi's eyes widened with absolute shock at what Rui said. She shook her head vehemently as she ran up to him, grabbing his hand, which he jerked from her grasp. "No," she denied earnestly, "I was as surprised as you were. Didn't you see the look on my face when they told me? When I was little, I had no idea why I was transferred to that elementary school! I was so unhappy to be going there because I lost all my friends! But you were there, and you befriended me--- and you became my best friend!"  
  
Slowly, her words penetrated into his mind and eventually, he calmed down enough to listen to what she had said. "Then you didn't befriend me because of the arrangement?" he asked once more.  
  
She broke out into a smile. "No," she said honestly, reaching to hold both of his hands in hers, "I didn't. You don't know how much better you made me feel in elementary school when you befriended me, especially since Tsukasa was the ringleader of the school even way back then. I can tell you I honestly didn't know Rui, until tonight."  
  
He finally nodded and stated, "I don't that they didn't even tell us that they had arranged this."  
  
She agreed wholeheartedly. "I don't like it either."  
  
~  
  
It was quite dark when F3 and Shizuka reached Tsukasa's beach house after partying at a popular dance club. Tsukasa was berating the others, since he was worried that they wouldn't reach the beach house before Rui and Tsukushi. "What if they arrive there before us?" he asked anxiously. "That would be a bad affect!"  
  
"Effect," Akira corrected, "but what you're saying doesn't even make sense anyways. At least if Tsukushi was here, you'd at least be more careful with what you say."  
  
"You do tend to mess up a lot less when she's around," remarked Soujirou. "It must be because she always makes you red when she corrects you nicely and makes you say ten correct sentences to try to make you remember not to use the word incorrectly."  
  
"Just hurry up!" Tsukasa yelled in a flustered voice. "We haven't even reached the front door yet!"  
  
Shizuka smiled and whispered to Akira, "He really hasn't changed at all. He's still the same old Tsukasa."  
  
Akira nodded. "He hasn't really changed," he agreed. But in his mind, he slightly disagreed with her, since Tsukasa had changed a bit. Of course, Tsukasa had changed a little--- Shizuka had been gone for over a year. How could all of them not changed?  
  
~  
  
"So are you giving up all other women now that Shizuka's back?" Soujirou teased.  
  
Akira quickly turned his face toward Soujirou. "What other women?" he retorted. "Compared to you I don't have any! You should be the one to talk, one girl doesn't even last a week, much less 5 days."  
  
Soujirou snorted. "You and your in-fat...ua..." he trailed off when he saw a dangerous glint in Akira's eyes. He coughed instead and turned to Shizuka. "So how was France?"  
  
Shizuka turned her attentions to Akira instead. "You don't have a girlfriend yet, Akira? How come? Do you want me to introduce you to one of my older model friends?" She smiled understandingly. "I know how you like older women."  
  
Interrupting quickly knowing that Akira was at the edge of his temper, Soujirou remarked, "You know, I'd love to meet your model friends. I don't prefer much older women, but I don't mind if they're models."  
  
Shizuka was still looking at Akira, studying him when Tsukasa shouted from outside where he'd been waiting for Rui and Tsukushi, "What took you two so long?"  
  
Inside the beach house, Shizuka, Akira, and Soujirou knew that meant the two latecomers had finally arrived, so they rushed out. In the back of each of their minds, they had been wondering what had taken Rui and Tsukushi so long. It was nearly midnight, and they had arrived at the Doumyouji beach house at 9, since Tsukasa had been afraid that Rui and Tsukushi would arrive before they would.  
  
"There was traffic," Tsukushi explained, since Rui hung behind her--- staring out at the dark sky.  
  
"What's your reason, Rui?" Tsukasa asked. He was wondering why both Tsukushi and Rui had arrived at the same tim, since from what they'd told him, it had seemed to him that they had gone to separate meeting affairs.  
  
Rui turned to Tsukasa and responded softly, "The same reason."  
  
"Did the meeting go well?" Shizuka finally asked to break the awkward silence as Tsukasa stared at Rui with a determined look on his face, like he was trying to force Rui to say something else that he had suspicions about.  
  
Tsukushi glanced at Rui and Rui glanced back at Tsukushi, their shared look caused the rest to look at them wonderingly. "Can you excuse us?" Tsukushi asked and Shizuka of course nodded her consent even though it wasn't her house because she was the eldest.  
  
"Of course," Shizuka responded.  
  
"Sorry," Tsukushi apologized, "Rui and I really need to talk about something privately."  
  
The rest of them watched the two of them disappear into the house before Soujirou remarked everyone's sentiments, "What was that about?"  
  
"I don't know," Akira responded.  
  
"I want to know!" Tsukasa exclaimed. "Why did they arrive both together? Weren't they suppose to be at separate meetings? And why do they need to talk privately?"  
  
"Calm down, Tsukasa!" Soujirou and Akira retorted simultaneously, causing Shizuka to chuckle.  
  
Both Soujirou and Akira turned to the softly chuckling Shizuka with a common thoughtfulness They shared a look with each other and nodded. "Shizuka, why don't you go find out what's going on?" Soujirou suggested. "You're good friends with both of them, so you could find out what's up and then relate it to us."  
  
Tsukasa immediately seized upon the idea. "Yes, Shizuka! You must go and find out!"  
  
Seeing that F3 were all for it, Shizuka raised her hands up in defeat and said, "I guess, I have to go."  
  
~  
  
"How do you feel about it?" she asked.  
  
He stared out the window and shrugged. "I don't know. I never thought it'd be you."  
  
She nodded. She understood what he meant. "I never thought it'd be someone that I knew."  
  
"Yes," he responded. "I always thought it'd be someone I didn't know and I could just tell my father no."  
  
She reached to touch his face and turn it towards her own. "Would you really be able to tell your father no?"  
  
He shrugged and turned away again. "I'm not weak."  
  
"You aren't. You are so much stronger than you know," she murmured.  
  
He shrugged again. "How do you feel about it?"  
  
"Odd," she replied. "I always thought it'd be someone that I'd never met before and I could just flat out reect the person to my mother and my father. But since it's you... it's not so easy."  
  
He dropped his gaze down to hers. "Not so easy?"  
  
She was about to respond to him when a soft knock came onto the door. "Who is it?" she called.  
  
"Shizuka."  
  
"Come in," Tsukushi answered. Shizuka entered into the room and smiled at both of them. Looking apologetic, Tsukushi asked, "Have we been in here too long?"  
  
"No, of course not," Shizuka replied quickly. "I was just wondering if there's something up between the two of you. Is there something that you want to tell me?" Rui shook his head in 'no', but Tsukushi shook hers in 'yes'. "Yes or no?" Shizuka inquired.  
  
"We should tell her," Tsukushi told Rui. "The rest are going to have to know eventually."  
  
"It's up to you."  
  
She smiled and took Shizuka's hands. "The meeting with my mother and his father was actually a meeting between our parents and ourselves. They had something to tell us."  
  
"Is something wrong?" Shizuka asked worriedly.  
  
Tsukushi shook her head. "No," she denied, "there's nothing wrong. It's just our parents wanted to tell us of our arranged marriage to each other."  
  
"Arranged marriage?!" Shizuka exclaimed in absolute shock. 


	5. Strange Rumors

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing!  
  
5: Strange Rumors! (November 24, 2002 to November 28, 2002)  
  
F3 were waiting outside the beach house when Shizuka finally rejoined them. Her face still had a stunned expression on it while she was walking toward them, but she carefully concealed most of by the time they turned around to see her. "Well?" Tsukasa demanded. "What's up with those two?"  
  
Shizuka sat down on one of the steps and looked up at the stars in the sky. "They'll tell you when they're ready," she answered with a soft, mysterious smile that was her trademark. "It'd be wrong for me to tell you when they're not even sure of what they want to say yet."  
  
Tsukasa looked absolutely frustrated and he was about to charge Shizuka and demand an answer, but Akira stepped in front of Tsukasa. "Don't," he muttered in a low voice, "just wait. I'm sure they'll come out and tell us shortly, until then you're going to have to wait."  
  
"Must be something important," added Soujirou reflectively.  
  
"Unlike you sissies," Tsukasa exclaimed, "I'm not going to wait for them to come out and tell! I'm going to go into the room and find out what's going on!"  
  
He started marching forward at breakneck speed, which was the only way he was staying in front of Soujirou and Akira, who were frantically trying to hold him back. Just as Tsukasa was about to barge in, Tsukushi opened the door, which hit Tsukasa square in the face. It hit him with enough force to knock him to the ground, causing Soujirou and Akira to burst out laughing.  
  
"Oh!" Tsukushi exclaimed. "Are you alright, Tsukasa?" she asked, kneeling down next to him. When she saw that Tsukasa had only been knocked off balanced rather than hurt, she giggled too. "What were you doing charging at the door like that?" she queried when she was finally able to get her laughter under control after Tsukasa glared at her indignantly for several long seconds.  
  
"You could have given me a... bruise!" Tsukasa shouted lamely.  
  
Tsukushi raised an eyebrow at his complaint. She was about to retort back, which would have started both of them on one of their endless arguments, but Shizuka asked softly, "Are you ready to tell them?"  
  
Turning to Rui, Tsukushi asked silently with her eyes if he was ready. He understood as he had always understood her without speaking. He shrugged, it was up to her. "Well," Tsukushi began, "we thought our meetings were separate, but they were actually one meeting with his father and my mother. Basically, to make a long story short--- we're arranged to be married."  
  
"WHAT!?" Tsukasa yelled. "You're engaged?! Why did you do such a stupid thing?" He reached to grab her hands and jerk her toward her, but Rui stepped into his pathway. He glared at Rui before resuming to scream at Tsukushi, "Why are you doing such stupid things?!"  
  
"For your information, my parents arranged it with Rui's parents!" Tsukushi shouted. F2 and Shizuka watched with their usual fascination at their arguing, while Rui stepped back and stared up at the stars in the sky. All of them were use to these arguments, but usually Tsukushi didn't raise her voice above talking loudly. Then again, there was only so much one could take of Tsukasa acting like an irrational idiot. "You are impossible! Why are you always like this?"  
  
Tsukasa was blustering because he couldn't think of any good comebacks. "You are such a stupid girl!"  
  
"Is that all you can say?" she retorted.  
  
"You are always doing stupid things! Like forgetting to call me back when I leave messages on your cell! Forgetting to meet up with me when I tell you too!" he yelled. "And you've gone and done another stupid thing again!"  
  
Tsukushi rolled her eyes up heavenward. When Tsukasa was fixated on a topic, it was hard to get him off the topic. She did wonder though, if he even remembered what she had said about her being engaged to Rui. She wasn't so sure that he fully digested that bit of information. She sighed as Tsukasa continued ranting. The poor idiot was still in shock mode. As she glanced at Rui's back, she thought he was taking things calmly as always.  
  
~  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
Glancing over to where Shizuka stood in the light, her silhouette reflecting a soft and graceful shadow, Akira made his way over to her. "About Tsukushi and Rui?"  
  
"Yes," she answered. "Don't you think they'll make a good couple?"  
  
"I suppose," Akira responded. "I can't really read Rui as good as you can read him, so I don't know about his feelings for her. But for Tsukushi, there's something special in her relationship with Rui. She definitely sees him differently than the rest of us. That's good for Rui."  
  
"Rui likes her immensely," Shizuka stated softly. "That I know for certain."  
  
"How?" Akira inquired.  
  
She turned to him and placed her arms around his neck. "I know because when Rui was little, he was never really smiling. But after he met Tsukushi, he'd smile whenever he was watching her playing. You, Tsukasa, and Soujirou never noticed because you were always off doing something else more active, while I stayed and watched Tsukushi and Rui. It wasn't that Rui was fascinated by Tsukushi's story as much as he enjoyed it when she'd stay with him and sit by him and try to understand why he did it like you guys never did. Those two definitely share something special."  
  
"That I'll agree with wholeheartedly," Akira murmured. He drew closer to Shizuka, until their bodies were touching. "Do we share something special?" He leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead. "I think we do." He was about to kiss her on the lips when she drew away from him.  
  
She laughed softly and continued rambling on Rui and Tsukushi, "We're suppose to be talking about Rui and Tsukushi, and how we're going to get them to acknowledge that they're perfect for each other. Don't you think they're perfect for each other?"  
  
"Why do you always change the subject when I try to talk about us?" he asked in irritation.  
  
She tilted her head, looking at him with a curious expression on her face. But she didn't say anything to him, instead she stepped closer to him. Taking his face into her hands, she leaned up and kissed him fully on the lips.  
  
~  
  
"Why don't you stop it, Tsukasa?" Akira queried, holding Tsukasa back so that he didn't do anything stupid.  
  
Tsukasa jerked away from Akira's hold and said in a loud voice, "He's being such a baby!"  
  
F3 looked at Rui, who was crying silently after Tsukasa had hit him, trying to get him to actually play with them. Unfortunately, like always, Tsukasa's roughhousing proved too much from little Rui to bear. Eventually, when Soujirou and Akira wasn't paying attention to Tsukasa, Tsukasa grabbed Rui by the arm and started shaking him quite violently. But before Soujirou and Akira could stop Tsukasa, Shizuka entered into the room when she heard the distressed moan coming from Rui's mouth.  
  
It was always like this. As soon as Rui starting making that sound of distress, Shizuka would appear from wherever she was and take Rui by the hand, leading him out of the room. Akira watched how Shizuka gracefully entered into the room and how she said in her commanding, yet gentle voice, "Tsukasa! Stop that! Can't you see that you're hurting him?"  
  
There was something mesmerizing about Shizuka's voice and it finally got into Tsukasa head that he was doing something dreadfully wrong with the way he was shaking Rui. He stopped and backed away, while Shizuka stepped forward and took Rui by the hand. Watching her take Rui away, Akira was compelled to follow for the first time after them. He vaguely recalled hearing Soujirou tell Tsukasa, "Calm down, okay?"  
  
"But was being such a baby!" Tsukasa grumbled.  
  
"You know he's like that," Soujirou muttered. "You shouldn't really be surprised. You know he doesn't like it when we play like that. You should have just stopped."  
  
Akira didn't hear the rest of the conversation since Shizuka had led Rui to another part of the mansion. He studied the two of them carefully, especially Shizuka as she hugged Rui, comforting him with her gentle words. He was able to make out what she said, but barely, "Rui, you should tell them when you don't like when they do that. And remember what I told you out doing a handstand to stop your tears? Crying doesn't solve your problems. It only makes Tsukasa more angry at you."  
  
Rui stared out at the bright blue sky, while Shizuka continued talking, "Don't you want to become better friends with them, Rui? You should open yourself more up to them. You know they'd really like you as a friend if you'd actually played with them or at least talked to them. Is that so hard to do?"  
  
"I don't like what they do," Rui stated without a thread of emotion. It caught Akira off guard that Rui was actually speaking, since it was rare and if he heard Rui speak, it was only a word or two at most. "I like it better here, where it's not so loud."  
  
"It's not that quiet," Shizuka remarked. "I talk quite a bit to you. I tell you things that I don't tell anyone else. Sometimes, I wonder if you even listen to me. Sometimes, I think that you don't care about what I say, do you, Rui?"  
  
Rui turned to her and touched her face with his hand. "I listen to what you say. What you say doesn't bother me. Tsukasa bothers my peace."  
  
She grinned at him and pinched his cheeks. "You are so cute, Rui! You're going to be a lady-killer when you grow up." At his perplexed look, she waved her hand in the air like it didn't matter what she had said. "You're too young to think about that anyways. You're only seven after all."  
  
"You're only nine," Rui responded.  
  
"Yes, but I'm much more wiser than you are," she said back. "Do you feel better now?"  
  
He nodded. "Yes, I do."  
  
Shizuka smiled and she was about to continue on talking about random things in her life when she as she was moving positions, she caught sight of Akira standing at the doorway. She gestured at him to come here, but his face turned red. He didn't leave, neither did he move forward. Eventually, she got up from her seat next to Rui and moved to where Akira was standing.  
  
"Why don't you come sit with us?" Shizuka inquired.  
  
"I think Rui needs to be alone," Akira replied.  
  
She nodded and together with him, they left Rui to his blissful peace. It wasn't long after they left him that he fell into a pleasant sleep, leaning against the wall, the sun shining down on his slumbering form. "You understand Rui, don't you?" she queried. "You're Akira, aren't you? He's mentioned you before, differently then Tsukasa or Soujirou."  
  
"I guess it's because I don't push him to play with us if he doesn't want to," Akira responded. "I'll even sit in silence with him when he goes off by himself when Tsukasa gets upset at him for not playing with us."  
  
She gave him a breathtaking smile. "That's wonderful! Rui needs more friends! I'm so glad that you're his friend! Maybe next time, I'll invite only you and Rui over instead of the other two. Then maybe Rui can interact a bit more without Tsukasa here."  
  
"That'd be fine with me."  
  
~  
  
The next day at school, rumors were already circulating around school about the engagement of Hanazawa Rui to Makino Tsukushi. Any news about F4 was big, but this was especially gigantic news! One of the F4 was no longer available! The only consolation to the mass of girls at Eitoku was at least it was the mysterious and slightly odd Hanazawa Rui, instead of the Doumyouji Tsukasa. Small consolation at that.  
  
"Do you think the rumors are true?" Yuki asked, walking the campus with Makiko.  
  
Makiko shrugged. "I don't know. They might be."  
  
"You know how those rumors are," Yuki began, "it could be just lies. There hasn't really been any confirmation. This news just blew out this morning when we arrived. Though, you did tell me that there was a rumor that said Makino Tsukushi was engaged to one of the F4. What do you think?"  
  
"I think it might be true," Makiko answered. "It might be true because there's this special relationship that Makino Tsukushi and Hanazawa Rui have with each other. It's not that they're openly friendly with each other or even flirtation. It's that whenever they're with one another, there's this striking peace and harmony. They always seem very happy in each other's presence."  
  
~  
  
"Is Hanazawa Rui really engaged to that Makino Tsukushi?"  
  
"Yeah! I heard that too!"  
  
"I think it really might be true."  
  
"Really? I thought that it'd be Mimasaka Akira that she'd be engaged too."  
  
"Or even Nishikado Soujirou. Either of them. It might not be Hanazawa Rui."  
  
"That's what the posters say, though..."  
  
The student pointed to the posters that Kazuya was tearing down frantically, exclaiming in a crazed voice, "My Makino Tsukushi can't be engaged to that--- that marble boy, Hanazawa Rui! She can't be engaged to any of the F4! She's my dear, sweet, and adorable Tsukushi! I've waited too late. I must confess! I must confess my feelings for her!"  
  
Doumyouji Tsukasa had overheard everything that Kazuya had said and had also overheard what the rest of the students at Eitoku had said. The whole weekend had passed in a blur to him because he had basically locked himself in his room and had resorted to throwing things around. F3 and Shizuka and Tsukushi had tried to talk to him, but it was to no avail. He wouldn't open the door. Eventually, they decided the best thing for them to do was to give up and let him calm himself down.  
  
Since he couldn't get his mind off the idea that Tsukushi was engaged to Rui, he had decided to come to school on time for once. Hearing all the students talk about the engagement was frustrating him to no end! How was it that they knew so soon? It wasn't like it was announced or anything! Everything in Eitoku seemed to spread like wildflowers! And to hear them ranting and raving on and on about the subject was getting to his last nerve. It wasn't helping that they were mentioning any and all of the F4, except HIM!  
  
So when he saw Tsukushi getting out of her car, he immediately marched up to her in a rage. She smiled at him and waved, "Are you feeling better today?"  
  
He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her squirming body tightly. Before she could say anything, he pushed her away and yelled at her, "YOU STUPID WOMAN! Why did you get engaged to Hanazawa Rui?!"  
  
"I told you," she exclaimed back, "that my parents arranged it, not me!"  
  
"You must have done something to make them think of Hanazawa Rui!" he said back childishly.  
  
"Is that why you locked yourself in your room all weekend?" she asked in an amused voice.  
  
"Yes, no, I mean no!" he shouted. "You are such a dumb girl!"  
  
"Why do you care anyways?" she inquired.  
  
He looked like he was in pain. She waited patiently, tapping her foot as his face got redder and redder. "Because I LIKE YOU, you STUPID, crazy WOMAN!" he screamed at her face. "It's because I like you. Why did you get engaged to him? Why can't it be me?!" 


	6. Turning Tide

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing!  
  
6: Turning Tide (November 30, 2002 to December 3, 2002)  
  
"Well?" Tsukasa demanded.  
  
Tsukushi glanced briefly at him before looking toward F3, who had arrived just in time to hear Tsukasa screaming out his confession to her. The one she watched the most carefully was Rui. Their eyes met for a second before he deliberately turned around and started to walk away.  
  
"Well?" he repeated insistently.  
  
"Well what?" she replied, not really hearing what he had said.  
  
"Do you like me?" he asked.  
  
Tsukushi glanced back at him, then turned her gaze back to the receding back of Rui. With Rui, she always never really knew what he felt. But there was a part of her that truly believed that they shared something special. But she wasn't sure if he thought the same thing. Even if she knew Rui better than anyone else did, it still didn't mean that she knew him well enough to know how he felt--- felt about her. With Tsukasa, it was simple and easy. He had just told her he liked her. She'd never thought he would, but then again--- she'd had an inkling.  
  
"Tsukushi!" exclaimed Tsukasa impatiently.  
  
Rui was almost out of sight now. A small part was telling herself that she should let him go because Rui probably only was thinking of them as friends, since he hadn't exactly been thrilled about the engagement. Neither had she. She had never really imagined Rui as anything other than as a best friend. But another part of her, a larger part of her was telling herself that if she didn't going--- she'd regret this moment forever. "I--- I," she mumbled before she ran off about Rui.  
  
Immediately, once he saw that Tsukushi was going to go after Rui, Tsukasa started to go after her. But Akira grabbed him by the shoulder and told him in a low voice, "Let her go. Those two understand each other's moods, and Rui's definitely in one of his moods right now."  
  
"But, but---" Tsukasa sputtered, "she never answered my question!"  
  
"Just ask her tonight!" Soujirou and Akira muttered simultaneously.  
  
~  
  
She lost him after he'd made a bunch of zig-zagging turns. But she knew precisely where to find him. So she went directly to where he liked to be alone, her favorite place as well, the stairway. She hid in the back so that when he finally sat down, she popped up in front of him--- blocking his way. He glared at her for a moment before dropping the expression and gesturing for her to sit down next to him.  
  
"What's wrong, Rui?" she asked.  
  
He glanced at her with his eyes from the side, not turning his head. "I'm just jealous that he's been able to say things so easily," he remarked offhandedly, catching her by surprise. She quickly faced him, her eyes staring at his seemingly calm demeanor. Even saying something like that, he was still unmoved. She sighed mentally and was about to turn away when he inquired, "What are you going to do since Tsukasa likes you?"  
  
This time, she sighed out loud. She didn't know what to do. She put her face on her propped up knees, staring into oblivion. She hadn't even thought about it that carefully, but as she was thinking--- she didn't quite know what she was going to do about Tsukasa liking her. She'd never thought he'd actually like her. He was always being mean to her and always doing things to make her miserable.  
  
As she was thinking, Rui watched the interesting expressions that passed over her face. He waved his hand in front of her face. His initial reaction was it was interesting when she didn't do anything, blink or even move her eyes. As usual, she was totally lost in her thought. And as usual, when she was totally lost in her thought, she began to mumble to herself.  
  
"Never thought he'd like me... why does he have to like me? He's always throwing things... always pushing me around... always trying to boss me around! GRRR... so annoying... irritating. What a brat. But he's a good friend... he cares about me... so does F4... and he did tell me he likes me. Rui's right, at least he was able to tell me that..."  
  
Rui smiled softly at her distracted rambling. He waved his hand in front of her face once more to make sure she was still lost in her thoughts. When she didn't blink or even move, he started playing with her hair. He did this every time she became oblivious to the rest of the world. When he was done messing up her hair, he pinched both of her cheeks, which finally managed to get her attention.  
  
She pushed his hands away from him and her eyes widened once she caught her reflection on the glass of the nearby window. "You brat!" she exclaimed once she saw the mess that her hair was in. Not only had he taken her hair out of her French braids, he'd tied her hair into elaborate knots! "RUI!"  
  
He grinned at her and bent down and kissed her on both cheeks that he'd pinched. "So what are you going to do about Tsukasa?"  
  
Again, she was stunned. This was just a stunning day. But she couldn't help but smile at Rui's antics. Nothing had changed since he was a little kiss. Whenever she was upset, he had this strange propensity of kissing her. "I'm going to have to talk to him," she responded. "That's all I can do."  
  
~  
  
She kept forgetting that she could never trust Tsukasa not to pull some prank on her whenever she wasn't being cautious. And it was one of those forgetful moments when she left a specially prepared bento her nanny had made in her backpack, which she'd left carelessly outside of her classroom. Tsukasa had a habit of going through her stuff just because he was curious of what she had in it.  
  
Well, when she opened the bento box, she discovered a huge cockroach in the middle of her precious food. She didn't scream, instead she turned very upset eyes at Tsukasa and threw the bento box at his face. She then got up from her seat and started to walk away when Akira called after her, "Don't be upset Tsukushi!"  
  
She ignored him and continued walking when Soujirou commented, "He only does that because he likes you!"  
  
Tsukasa immediately punched him. "Shut up!" he roared. "You don't know what you're saying!"  
  
"The truth?" Soujirou joked. He skillfully dogged the next punch Tsukasa tried to throw at him. "Hey, it must be the truth if you're acting like this!"  
  
Tsukushi still continued marching away, despite Akira's and Soujirou's best efforts to cheer her up. When Rui noticed that Tsukushi was no longer next to him, he too got up and followed where she was heading, toward the playground. He didn't stop her headlong flight. With interest, he watched her as she got up onto the monkey bars and hung herself upside down.  
  
It was once she was in that position that she noticed Rui was standing there with barely a smile on his face, but the amazing thing was that there even was a trace of a smile on his face, since he normally didn't show much emotion at all. She almost fell off the bars when he spoke because she hadn't expected him to say anything. "If you want to cry, I understand. The food looked good except for the roach."  
  
She nodded in agreement after she got over her initial shock. "You told me that your good friend said to hang upside down whenever I felt upset, and I was upset because Nana spent so much time making that bento for me."  
  
"If you hang upside down too long, it will hurt your head," Rui commented.  
  
In an odd way, it was basically Rui's way to tell her that she'd better get down before the teachers found out where they went. The monkey bars were too visible. Once she got down, her suspicions of his reasoning was confirmed when he led her to a more isolated spot in the playground. He sat down beside a tree and she sat down besides him. She placed her face down on her propped up knees and sighed heavily.  
  
Glancing down at her glum face, Rui bent his head down and kissed her on the nose. "Don't let Tsukasa get to you. He can be a real fool sometimes. It's something you just have to get use to."  
  
Gazing at him sideways, she thought that Rui was right. Tsukasa was a fool and she'd just have to deal with it. But Rui, Rui wasn't a fool. Rui was nice, if a bit odd. In the realms of the fantasies of her mind, odd was a good deal better than being a fool. In response to the kiss he gave her, she smiled at him brightly. "Thanks, Rui."  
  
~  
  
Always a making a late appearance, Rui finally showed up at the designated club for the night. What was abnormal about the circumstances was that Tsukushi hadn't arrived yet. When Tsukasa had seen Rui enter into the club, he'd been hoping really badly to see that Tsukushi was hidden behind Rui's taller form. But to no avail, she wasn't behind Rui. Tsukasa hadn't really wanted to see Tsukushi with Rui, but if it was going to make her arrive sooner--- he didn't mind it.  
  
Where was she?! "Rui!" Tsukasa exclaimed as soon as Rui was close enough to hear him shout. "Where's Tsuushi?!"  
  
With a passive face, Rui glanced at Tsukasa's flushed face. "I don't know. I assumed she was already here," he stated calmly. He took a seat next to Shizuka, not only because it was a free seat, but also because it was the furthest from Tsukasa. He wasn't really up to putting up with Tsukasa's antics. He couldn't deal with Tsukasa's problems and his own confusion at the same time.  
  
"THERE YOU ARE!" Tsukasa roared, drawing everyone's attention immediately to the direction he was looking. Much to no one's surprise, there stood Tsukushi. "Where have you been?" he inquired brusquely. He didn't even bother to wait for her answer because he grabbed her hand and started dragging her to one of the private rooms. "I need to talk to you!" he stated bluntly. "Stop being so difficult! You owe me an answer!"  
  
Tsukushi sighed and allowed him to drag her to one of the private rooms without further resistance, since he was right. She did need to give him an answer and she did need to talk to him privately anyways. Better now than later, she supposed.  
  
Everyone's eyes widened with surprise except the unperturbed Rui. It was after Tsukasa and Tsukushi had disappeared that everyone turned to look at Rui, who was sitting there sipping at his milk tea with a nonchalant air surrounding him. A few seconds passed before Shizuka asked hesitantly, "Rui, are you okay?"  
  
He glanced at her with unreadable eyes. "Why wouldn't I be?"  
  
Soujirou's forehead hit the table with a resounding thump at Rui's statement. "Man!" he remarked loudly, his head still on the table. "Man, oh man." It was a minute or two before Soujirou finally lifted his head up and waved at a waiter. "Waiter," he called out, "I need a Vodka!" He then turned to Rui with a chagrined look on his face before saying, "When another man steals your fiancé away, you're suppose to react you know!"  
  
Rui just stared at him and didn't say anything, which made Akira pat Soujirou comfortingly on the head as Soujirou moaned, "Where's my bloody drink when I need it?!"  
  
~  
  
"WELL?" Tsukasa shouted. "Do you like me or not?"  
  
"In what way?" she joked.  
  
He glared at her, not thinking her joke was funny at all. "In THAT way!" he exclaimed loudly. "In the way a boy likes a girl! So do you like me?" he demanded. He waited a second for her answer before rambling on self- consciously, "I can ask my mother to talk to your mother and get the engagement rearranged."  
  
"I don't," she answered softly.  
  
"Don't what?" he asked distractedly because he was getting excited about rearranging the engagement with him as her fiancé instead of Rui. She hit him on the arm and he glanced down at her. "Why did you hit me?"  
  
She hit him again. "Did you hear what I said to you, dummy?" From the vague look on his face, she immediately concluded that he hadn't hear anything that she had said.  
  
"No, what did you say?!" he half asked and half commanded in the typical Tsukasa fashion.  
  
"I said," she began in a slightly humoring tone of voice, "that you think far too much of yourself, but I suppose you have to since no one else does!" She paused and took a deep breath. "And I have to tell you that I only lie you as a friend, nothing more. I certainly don't want to break my engagement with Rui."  
  
"You love him?" he cried out incredulously, making a big leap to that conclusion.  
  
She didn't answer him, instead she continued on what she was trying to say before he had interrupted her, "I'm sorry, Tsukasa. You're like a brother to me. I'm sorry that I don't see you in another way or even the way that you see me."  
  
"And you see Rui in another way?" he questioned sharply. "Why?" he asked in an angry voice. "Why Rui? Why not me?!" He punched the wall and leaned his forehead against it. He never thought that Tsukushi would just bluntly reject him like that. He didn't even know what to do now that she had rejected him.  
  
She placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "I really am sorry."  
  
"Get your hands off me!"  
  
"Tsukasa..." her voice trailed off as Tsukasa abruptly turned around and grabbed her by the shoulders. The look on his face alarmed her momentarily, but the fear faded even when he pushed her against the wall. Even when he was bending his face down to hers in a menacingly way, she didn't shrink away. All she did was say softly, "You'll regret this Doumyouji Tsukasa."  
  
He sighed heavily and dropped his hands off of her shoulders. Instead of forcing a kiss upon her, he pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly against his chest. "I still don't know why the one you like isn't me. What did I do wrong? Why don't you like me?"  
  
She wrapped his arms around him, hugging him back. "I don't know," she answered. "I don't know."  
  
~  
  
"I think we need to talk," Shizuka declared, looking directly at Rui. "Come on Rui," she urged. She held her hand out to him. He looked at her hand for a while before finally taking her offered hand. She pulled him up to a standing position and led him toward one of the private rooms.  
  
Once they were in the private room, Rui let go of her hand and lazily spread his slender body onto the couch. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked.  
  
"Can't you guess?" she queried lightly. When he continued to stare at her with vague eyes, she sighed. "Sometimes, you can be as difficult and as stubborn as Tsukasa in your own way." When he still didn't say anything, she was forced to vocalize herself, "It's about your engagement with Tsukushi."  
  
"What about it?" he responded in as calm of a manner as always. Shizuka wondered if Rui's stoicism ever bothered Tsukushi as much as it bother her when she wanted a reaction out of him.  
  
She took a deep breath; she certainly didn't want to lose her patience. "How do you feel about the engagement?" she asked. "Are you happy, excited or just the usual? Maybe even upset?"  
  
"Why would I be upset?" he asked back.  
  
She shook her head, thinking that she needed a drink if she really wanted to have this conversation with him. "How do you feel about Tsukushi?" she inquired. "Do you like her, love her?"  
  
He blinked and shrugged. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "I never really thought about that."  
  
Shizuka closed her eyes and willed herself to be patient. She wished she could be as forgiving as Tsukushi with Rui's behavior, but she wasn't. "Then you might as well let Tsukasa have her," she retorted dramatically. "Because at least he knows about his feelings for her."  
  
Rui's face darkened with an expression that Shizuka couldn't quite name. She was about to ask him what was wrong when he said in a low voice, "I don't know how I feel about her my fiancé. I know exactly how I feel about her as my best friend. And that's all I'll say. You know I don't react well to change."  
  
That was a much more in-depth answer than she had been expecting from Rui. She nodded. She knew he didn't adapt well to change. She knew Rui liked things to be moving slowly, which was why it amazed her when Rui had offhandedly introduced Tsukushi to her. It wasn't like Rui to just meet people and become friends with them. She smiled as she watched Rui close his eyes. Her little Rui hadn't changed much since he was little, but he had changed a little. That little was all due to Tsukushi.  
  
"Rui?" she said softly.  
  
"What Shizuka?"  
  
"Tsukushi's really been good for you. I don't know if you're willing to admit this or not, but without her you'd be an entirely different person. She's like your world. The two of you have your own special world together. I don't know if you know this, but if you don't want her... Tsukasa definitely does."  
  
"I know," he answered. "I know that. You don't need to tell me that." 


	7. Great Misunderstandings

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing! And to let you guys know, I won't be updated until AFTER my Finals MOST likely: December 20th. It depends how fast I finish Chapter 8, which is what I'm writing right now. Thanks for your understanding, this is the longest gap between updates so far, sorry about that!  
  
7: Great Misunderstandings (December 4, 2002 to December 7, 2002)  
  
"I really like you, Tsukushi," Tsukasa said earnestly. "You're the only one that I've ever felt this way before."  
  
Looking into his quite serious eyes, she believed him. It wasn't his words that made her believe him or even the seriousness in his eyes, but rather she had grown up with him and she knew that Tsukasa hadn't been mature enough to feel that way before. With that thought, a smile graced her lips as she said, "I know that, but I'm sure that you'll find someone else that likes you as much as you'll like her. You just have to be patient, Tsukasa."  
  
He gave a ragged sigh and remarked, "I still don't understand why you like Rui better than me. But I'm not going to just give you to him," he grumbled. "He's going to have to put some effort into winning you from me! And if he hurts you, he'll hear from me!"  
  
Tsukushi chuckled lightly. "You are such a silly boy."  
  
He glared at her. "You're the silly one and the stupid one, falling for Hanazawa Rui instead of the great Doumyouji Tsukasa!"  
  
She rolled her eyes up heavenwards. "You have an ego bigger than anything else about you. When are you going to grow out of it?"  
  
He grinned at her and leaned his face over hers. "I don't need to get over it because my ego isn't as big as my jealousy. I'm extremely jealous that you like Rui. You know how I am. I am very jealous."  
  
"And possessive as well," she added reflectively, grinning back at him, not the least bit intimidated by his deliberate attempt to make her cow. "And yes, I do know that you're very jealous. Who doesn't know that fact about you?"  
  
He leaned his forehead against hers. "Why don't you like me? Why do you have to like Rui? I could make you so much happier than he could."  
  
~  
  
"Are you going to do something about Tsukasa trying to steal Tsukushi away from you or not?" Shizuka asked. "Because if you don't, you could lose her to him. It isn't unthinkable that Tsukasa couldn't get the engagement rearranged. His family as at least as prominent if not more so than your own. And you know how persistent Tsukasa is. He won't just stop even if Tsukushi says she doesn't like him."  
  
"Do you want me to go talk to Tsukushi?" he inquired in an emotionless voice. "Would that make you feel better?"  
  
"It'd make me feel better for your sake," she responded. "Aren't you even worried about losing her?"  
  
"I trust her," Rui said simply. "But I'll go talk to her if that will make you feel better."  
  
"That would. That would indeed make me feel better," she responded. "Are you going to talk to her now?" she queried when she saw that he was getting up from his lounging spot on the couch.  
  
He nodded. "Might as well."  
  
Since there were only two private rooms in this particular club, it wasn't hard to guess which room they were in talking to each other. So he went to the room and he was about to knock on the door when he noticed it wasn't even properly closed, so he pushed it open. It took him a while to see where Tsukushi and Tsukasa were in the room because they were in a corner.  
  
He almost didn't see where Tsukushi was until he saw arms around Tsukasa's waist. He had thought it was strange that they were in a private room if they hadn't even shut the door. He soon realized why when he saw Tsukushi against the wall and Tsukasa covering her body with his own. He watched with fascination and pain as he saw Tsukasa lower his head even more, looking like he was going to kiss her. Disgusted at himself for watching, he left them to what they were doing.  
  
Rui marched out of the room and through the crowds of people, ignoring what Akira and Soujirou were saying to him as he passed by their table. He finally stopped his headlong flight out of the club when Shizuka stood in front of him and asked, "What's wrong, Rui? Did you talk to Tsukushi? Sit down and tell me why you're upset."  
  
He sat down, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he grabbed Akira's vodka and downed the entire glass. F2 and Shizuka watched him with concerned expressions, but they weren't about to ask him what was wrong. If Rui didn't want to tell them, then he wasn't going to tell them and if they kept pestering him, he'd just get up and leave. Then they'd never find out what was wrong with him.  
  
~  
  
"I don't know why I don't like you in that way," she answered, hugging him for the second time. "But I've always known I've liked Rui. I've always felt this special connection to him. Despite the face, he doesn't seem like he cares--- he does care. He's not entirely apathetic, even though he wants people to think that he doesn't care. And he has been a very good friend to you, Tsukasa."  
  
"He has," he agreed stiffly. "He has been a good friend to me. But that still doesn't stop me from being jealous. That only means I won't pulverize him with my fists like that idiot Kazuya if he keeps hanging onto your arm like that."  
  
"Kazuya is harmless," she remarked.  
  
"I can't help my feelings for you," he said softly.  
  
She smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "You can't help my feelings for Rui either. You should try to get use to it, okay?"  
  
"I'll try," he replied.  
  
"Let's go back now, since you've got your answer now." She took his hand and pulled him out of the private room and back to where F3 and Shizuka had been sitting during their conversation. "Sorry we took so long," she said apologetically, sitting down in her seat next to Rui.  
  
As soon as she sat down, Rui got up from where he was sitting. "I've got to go," he declared." I'll see you guys tomorrow." He deliberately avoided Tsukushi's questioning eyes.  
  
Tsukushi stood up and said, "I'm going as well."  
  
"Don't bother," Rui said curtly. "You two won't need a private room when I'm gone." From the confused look on her face, he decided that further clarification was need and he gave it in a cold tone, "Don't act so innocently, Tsukushi. I saw you two kissing each other."  
  
F2 and Shizuka looked at each other with absolute shock then looked at Tsukasa, who was not looking the least bit embarrassed or taken back by the statement. Instead, Tsukasa was looking as confused as Tsukushi, as if he didn't know what Rui was talking about. They knew that Rui just didn't make things up, so something was up.  
  
"You were spying on us?" she exclaimed in outrage. He didn't even blink. All he did was turn around and start walking off. "Hanazawa Rui!" she called out after him. "Rui, you don't understand!"  
  
She followed after him, and since Tsukushi was leaving--- Tsukasa also followed suit. Shizuka glanced at the empty bottle of vodka that Rui had guzzled and held her hand out to Akira. "I think this party has come to it's conclusion. Will you drive me home?"  
  
He nodded. "Let's go." He glanced at Soujirou and asked, "Want me to meet you later at your favorite pub?"  
  
Soujirou shook his head. "Shizuka's right. The festivities are over. I'm going to go home." He waved at them and watched them make their getaway together before finally leaving himself. As he was watching them go, he was thinking that Akira wasn't as happy as he thought Akira would be now that Shizuka had returned. Actually, it'd been a while since he'd seen Akira really happy.  
  
He shook his head. He was glad he wasn't infatuated with any girls, though at the same time, he envied the rest of them for at least having someone they were crazy about. He didn't have anyone. That fact sobered him pretty good by the time he got home. He was tempted to go to a bar anyways and get sickeningly drunk when he saw a slim figure outside of the gates of his mansion.  
  
He narrowed his eyes... it couldn't be... but it was. Sara was back.  
  
~  
  
"Jirou!" Sara called out to him. "I didn't know you were coming over today." He smiled at her. "Want to play house with me, since you're here?"  
  
He shrugged. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me."  
  
She took him by the hand and led him into her playroom. She sat him down on one of the little pink chairs, and she ran to get the necessary things to play house. He didn't really know why he was here because it wasn't like he wanted to play house, but he did like to be in her presence and that invariably meant playing house. It wasn't like he had anything better to do anyways. Akira and Shizuka were off talking together and Tsukasa was undoubtedly bothering Rui and Tsukushi, who sat in silence unless Tsukushi was telling Rui an amusing anecdote.  
  
"Good morning sir," greeted Sara, who was now wearing a little maid uniform. "What would you like for breakfast?"  
  
"Orange juice and toast," he requested politely.  
  
She smiled at him and placed a pink plate with white flowers that lined the corners in front of him. On the plate, it had a plastic piece of toasted bread with a yellow cube that represented butter. He watched her as she then rain into the next room and then came back with a mismatched blue teacup that had some real orange juice in it. She was moving so quickly that she tripped over something on the floor and fell forward, the orange juice immediately spilling onto the floor.  
  
He jumped up and managed to catch her before she fell on the floor, but he wasn't able to catch the teacup full with orange juice. Sara glanced at the spilled orange juice and her eyes filled with tears. "Mommy is going to be so upset with me again. She told me that I shouldn't play house with real juice if I can't be careful."  
  
Pinching her cheek, he grabbed a towel and started cleaning up the spilled orange juice. "I'll call one of my maids to come over and clean this mess up before your mother ever finds out. She won't even be able to tell, so don't worry, okay? Just don't cry."  
  
She nodded bravely. "Okay, Jirou. I don't know what I'd do without you." He blushed when she kissed him on the cheeks. "Do you want ice cream? My mommy bought it yesterday. I told her to get mocha because I know it's your favorite flavor. But we'll have to eat it in the kitchen because it's easier to clean up if I make a mess."  
  
"Okay. I'd really like that. Why don't you get the ice cream ready, while I call my house for a maid?" he suggested. She grinned and skipped happily out of the room. He dialed his house with his cell. "Hi, it's Soujirou. I need a maid to come to Sara's house."  
  
"One or more?"  
  
"Only one this time," he responded. "Tell her that she needs to bring something that can remove orange juice. And tell my parents I'll call them tomorrow morning."  
  
"Okay, master. Is that all?"  
  
"For now, yes."  
  
~  
  
He got out of the car and stood there for a long while, just looking at her. "Sarah," he finally whispered her name.  
  
She broke out into one of her wonderful smiles, and she ran toward him, leaping into his opened arms. "For a minute, I thought you didn't recognize me."  
  
He pulled away from her slightly and gave her a thorough look over. It wasn't only the smile that reminded him of the cute little girl that Sara had been, but also the sweetness of her innocent eyes. He'd come to the conclusion that she hadn't changed much, but he certainly admitted that she had changed indeed. She had grown up from a young girl into a beautiful young woman. "I definitely recognize you," he murmured, burying his face into her hair. "I've missed you, Sara."  
  
"I've missed you, too," she whispered back.  
  
He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her toward his house. "So how long are you back for?"  
  
She shrugged. "For a while, I'm not sure how long I'll be here yet. I'll know in a few days."  
  
"I hope it's a while," he declared. "I haven't seen you in four years."  
  
She smiled. "I hope it'll be for a while, too."  
  
~  
  
"Hanazawa Rui!" she cried out. "Please!" she begged, running after him, but he still didn't stop. Instead, he seemed only to increase his pace and pull further and further away from her reach.  
  
Tsukasa, who had been following both of them for a while, knew that if he really wanted to--- he could catch up to Rui for her. The problem was that he didn't really want to catch Rui for her. He was selfishly thinking that if Rui kept running away from Tsukushi, maybe she would turn to him for comfort. But the other problem was that seeing how hard she was trying and the desperation in her voice made him ache for her.  
  
Finally, he had no other choice but to catch Tsukushi by the arm and stop her headlong flight to Rui. She quickly jerked her arm away from him and exclaimed in a hurt voice. "Why'd you do that, Tsukasa?" Haven't we hurt him enough?! I need to explain to him, okay?"  
  
"I'm trying to tell you that I'm going to explain for you!" he shouted at her. "It's my fault, I should explain and I can catch up to him. Just trust me!"  
  
She nodded, not really knowing why. It was the only sign he needed before he ran full speed after Rui's fading back. It took him a few minutes before he caught up to Rui, and by then they were both out of breath. He still managed however to grab Rui and jerk him around and glare at him. However, Rui's intense eyes caused Tsukasa relax his grip enough that Rui pushed easily pass Tsukasa. Tsukasa was about to grab him again when Rui whirled around and said in a cold voice, "How could you do that to me?"  
  
Tsukasa grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him from moving away. "It's not what you think!"  
  
"I saw you bending over her, your body covering hers," Rui stated in a harsh voice. "What am I suppose to think? It was my kind mind that said you and her were just kissing! You two could have very well been doing something else far more disgusting."  
  
Tsukushi hadn't been able to just let Tsukasa go to Rui, she had followed and arrived in time to hear what Rui had said. "How could you say that about me?" she asked in a low, hurt voice. Walking slowly over to him, she slapped him across the face. "Believe what you want, I don't care anymore." She then turned and walked off.  
  
Standing there paralyzed, Rui received the last blow when Tsukasa said softly, "Tsukushi didn't deserve a word of what you said. That was out of character for you, Rui. And I can't believe you said that about her after she told me so many nice things about you." Then he began to walk off, but before he was too far to be heard, he paused and swung his head around. "Just to let you know, she was hugging me because I was upset that she'd rejected me for you."  
  
~  
  
Another spiel of rumors were going around Eitoku again. There were whispers that Tsukushi had rejected Tsukasa. That Tsukasa had stormed off and that he was enraged and hurt. Thus, many girls had brought gifts and stuff, hoping to comfort his pain and catch him for themselves, since Tsukushi was no longer available. There was also the significant rumors that Akira had proposed to Shizuka last night, and that the great love of Soujirou's life had returned.  
  
The whole student body was focused on when F4, Tsukushi, and Shizuka would arrive. When they finally arrived, their arrival caused new stirring of rumors because Shizuka hadn't come with the, Tsukushi was walking next to Tsukasa at the front of the group, and Rui was no where to be seen. Soujirou and Akira were also not laughing or joking as they normally would be. Everyone at Eitoku knew that something had happened, but they didn't know what exactly had happened. A ton of girls were upset though and they hoped that when Rui showed up, everything would be clarified.  
  
"What do you think happened?" Yuki asked.  
  
Makiko shrugged. "I have no idea. I'll agree with the consensus that something's happened though. I'm not sure what though. Doumyouji Tsukasa isn't in a bad mood, so maybe the one Makino Tsukushi rejected was Hanazawa Rui instead of Doumyouji Tsukasa."  
  
"THIS IS TERRIBLE NEWS!" Kazuya screamed as he ran up to Makiko, one of the few people that was able to tolerate his adoration of Makino Tsukushi. "Why didn't she reject both of them if she was going to reject one of them? I would have been an excellent choice instead of them? Why can't she like me? Why can't she reject them for me?"  
  
Makiko rolled her eyes up heavenward and ignored what he said and introduced, "I don't believe you've met Yuki. Yuki, this is Kazuya. Kazuya, this is Yuki."  
  
Yuki nodded politely at Kazuya, who was oblivious to everything and ran off to find out more information about his precious Tsukushi. "That was strange."  
  
"Kazuya's like that," Makiko explained. "He's been like that since elementary school. He just doesn't get that Makino Tsukushi has only ever seen him as a classmate, maybe as a friend at most."  
  
"Well anyways," Yuki remarked, "I thought Hanazawa Rui and Makino Tsukushi had a special relationship. I thought they would have been pleased with their engagement."  
  
Makiko shrugged again. "We'll have to see about it later. I'm sure someone will confirm or deny the current rumors." 


	8. Seeking Forgiveness

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing! There's a more important note at the end of the chapter. Please read it!  
  
8: Seeking Forgiveness (December 8, 2002 to December 12, 2002)  
  
He had actually woken up early, sending his servants into a flurry of activities, since they didn't expect him to be up until 8 at the earliest. And since they had noted the bad mood he'd been in when he'd arrived home last night, they hadn't been really expecting him up until noon. But he'd gotten up early, even earlier then when he was trying to catch Tsukushi on her way to school. He woke up at 6 exactly.  
  
He'd gotten up because there were things he needed to think about, especially that instant last night and the revelation Tsukasa had informed him of. The more he thought about it, the more strange he considered the bit of information Tsukasa had informed him of. It wasn't like Tsukasa to volunteer information like that, especially if it didn't help his case with Tsukushi. And Tsukasa was also incapable of lying, which was why as he thought more and more about everything, he felt terrible.  
  
No wonder, she had slapped him. No wonder, she had had that hurt look on her face. No wonder, she hadn't returned any of his calls. He'd been a complete and utter imbecile, and he didn't know what he could do to seek her forgiveness. When they were children, it's been easy. But he didn't think this time, it'd be so easy. That was the reason he'd gotten up early- -- to think and ponder his next move. It hadn't help, which was why it was approaching noon and he still hadn't gone to class yet.  
  
He'd actually gotten out of bed, changed, and eaten breakfast--- all prepared to meet her early at school. But just as he had been about to leave, he'd chickened out and headed back into his room. His servants knew better than to bother him once he'd retreated into his sanctuary. There he'd stayed for four hours, staring at the white walls in his room. His eyes were burning. What was he going to do?  
  
~  
  
"That was unlike you, Rui," Shizuka murmured as she sat down next to him on the balcony outside of his room. "Why did you shout at her when she was trying to explain to you what was going on? It's more like you to just ignore her when you're mad at her. Tell me what's wrong."  
  
"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered, turning his face away from her direction.  
  
But avoiding Shizuka when she had her mind set on something wasn't easy to do. She placed her hands on both of his shoulders. "Haven't I always told you that it's better to talk things out loud rather than to keep things inside?"  
  
He shrugged, then sighed heavily. "I lost control of myself."  
  
"Why is that?" she asked softly. Shizuka was slightly afraid that she was pushing him too hard to the point where he'd decide not to speak anymore. But if she didn't, then she'd never hear the reason either.  
  
"She's always helping other people, and she's always forgetting to meet me when she promises," Rui responded lamely. He knew his anger was uncalled for, but he disliked not having Tsukushi's attentions.  
  
Shizuka was tempted to chuckle at his jealousy. Rui really wasn't as different from Tsukasa as he thought himself to be. "You know, she has a very unselfish personality, and you like her for that reason. You really should apologize to her for raising your voice to her. That wasn't right of you to do that."  
  
"I know," he murmured softly. If there was one big difference in Rui and Tsukasa, other than their obvious personality differences, it was that Rui accepted when he was so obviously wrong where Tsukasa blindly persisted in his opinion.  
  
Following Shizuka's advice, Rui met Tsukushi at school early the next morning. When she arrived and saw him, she walked up to him immediately with a questioning expression. He wasn't the only one who was amazed he was up this early, she was too. He smiled at her and handed her a brown bag and explained, "There are cookies inside that I made you because I had no right to yell at you like that. I'm sorry, Tsukushi."  
  
She opened the bag, still not having said anything. She reached in, grabbed a cookie, and then shoved one into Rui's mouth, since he'd opened his mouth to say something and then close it without saying anything. She then grinned at his stunned look. "I accept your apology. Eat a cookie!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "I should apologize as well," she admitted, while he bit a part of the cookie away and chewed thoughtfully. "I didn't mean to be late. It just happened."  
  
He nodded and put the rest of the cookie he'd bitten into her still rambling mouth. He wiped the crumbs off of his hands and commented, "These are really good, you should try it." She gave him the same look he gave her as he continued, "Did you know I actually made these?" Her eyes widened and he kissed her forehead. "Don't eat too much. You know what Susumu says about your excess fat."  
  
She glared at him. "Hanazawa Rui, go to class!"  
  
~  
  
"I told you, you should have engaged her to Doumyouji Tsukasa instead of Hanazawa Rui," retorted Tsukushi's father. "Then she wouldn't have come home in the middle of the night last night upset and declare that she wanted to break the engagement with him."  
  
Her mother glared at her husband. "She was fine with the engagement for several days after I announced it to her! It must be something else!" Her eyes widened after what she'd just said, and she immediately seized upon her idea. "Yes, it must be something else! She'd never reject Hanazawa Rui! She adores the boy!"  
  
"Well, she rejected Hanazawa Rui just the night before," he commented. "So anything is definitely possible. Besides, who else would she reject Hanazawa Rui for but Doumyouji Tsukasa? I think that Tsukasa must have confessed his feelings for her and Tsukushi must have fallen head over heels in love with him, thus she had to break the engagement you arranged!  
  
"And," he continued dramatically, "it doesn't really matter who she ends up with anyways, both of them are rich, good-looking, and well Hanazawa Rui is intelligent and Doumyouji Tsukasa is average, but both come from good families!"  
  
His wife clapped her hands, excited by what her husband was saying. "You're right, it doesn't matter who she ends up with! You know that Mimasaka Akira has twin sisters that are about Susumu's age. Wouldn't that be perfect to ally ourselves to two of the 4 F4 families? And think if Toudou Shizuka married Mimasaka Akira and Susumu married one of Akira's sisters, we'd be related to three of the Top 5 families!" She swooned and her husband managed to grab her before she fell to the ground.  
  
"Quite right!" he agreed with equal enthusiasm. "Quite right!"  
  
~  
  
After making up his mind to go see Tsukushi, he trudged up the stairs tow here they always met at lunchtime. HE didn't really expect with 100% certainty to find her, but he was pleasantly surprised when he saw her familiar figure. His joy was only momentary, and it soon faded when he saw another equally familiar figure next to her. He hid himself to the side and strained his hears to hear what they were talking about.  
  
"So this is where you come to with Rui," commented Tsukasa. "I'd always wondered where you and he ran off to for lunch almost everyday."  
  
"Why did you follow me here?" she inquired, her voice neither upset or condemning.  
  
He placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. "I know you're hurting because of what Rui said to you yesterday, and is it bad that I'm worried about you?"  
  
She shook her head and smiled at him. "You know, you're not as dumb as you appear to be. You're quite smart."  
  
He glared at her. "I've told you have to so many times, dumb girl!"  
  
Sighing to himself, Rui leaned back against the wall, significantly relieved. He was able to tune out the rest of the conversation safely and think that Tsukushi wasn't treating Tsukasa as anything more than as a friend. He decided as soon as Tsukasa was gone, he'd go to Tsukushi and ask for her forgiveness.  
  
"Do you want me to get you something to eat?" Tsukasa asked.  
  
She shook her head. "No, I'll go down with you and eat with you guys in the cafeteria. It's been a while since I've seen Sara."  
  
Tsukasa nodded and offered her his hand, which she hesitated before finally taking it. From his hiding spot, Rui slid to the ground. He hadn't thought that Tsukushi would leave with Tsukasa when Tsukasa left. He guessed he'd have to catch Tsukushi at the end of school then. That was the last option he had. He knew that Akira usually drove her to school, so he'd offer to drive her back home. That would give them plenty of time to talk. Hopefully, things would work out.  
  
~  
  
"It's been so long since I've seen you!" Tsukushi exclaimed, hugging Sara warmly. "What are you doing back?" she asked. "How long are you staying?"  
  
Sara hugged her back enthusiastically. "I've missed you too. I'm back for a while. It depends on how things go on how long I stay." Tsukushi caught Sara's brief glance toward Soujirou, but he didn't seem to notice it. "But I'm definitely going to be here for a while, that's for sure."  
  
"We should all go out tonight!" Tsukasa announced. "Me and Tsukushi, Shizuka and Akira, and you and Soujirou!"  
  
Everyone turned to the quite excited Tsukasa with a dubious look on their faces. Shizuka was finally the one that spoke out their concerns, "What about Rui?"  
  
Tsukasa, as well as everyone else, looked expectantly at Tsukushi, who shrugged. "I doesn't matter to me if he comes or not. It's his decision."  
  
"What happened between you and Rui?" Sara asked. When everyone gave her a look that screamed: WHAT WAS SHE DOING, Sara backed up a step with alarm.  
  
Tsukushi, however, gave her a comforting smile and said a reprimand at the rest, "How could Sara have known what happened? If I were in her situation, I'd like to know what's going on instead of remaining ignorant." Tsukushi paused and then turned toward Sara and started to explain, "Our parents arranged en engagement between the two of us, however long back, I do not know. Anyways, we found out a few days ago and things have hardly been smooth."  
  
"Oh," Sara responded, "I always thought you and Rui would have been such a cute couple. I hope you work your problems out."  
  
Tsukushi shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I called off the engagement." She glanced around at the stunned look on everyone's faces and remarked, "I want some ice cream, does anyone want some?"  
  
Akira stood up from where he was sitting next to Shizuka and offered her his hand. She took his hand, and he led her to the part of the cafeteria where they sold ice cream. When they left, Soujirou quickly looked at Tsukasa, "What happened last night?"  
  
"Rui thought he saw us kissing," Tsukasa replied.  
  
Soujirou burst out laughing. "You and Tsukushi? Kissing?!"  
  
Tsukasa had an irritated look on his face. "What are you staying, Soujirou? And why the hell are you laughing like a crazy person?"  
  
It took a while before Soujirou was able to calm down enough to answer him. Even Sara and Shizuka had given in to their laughter, which only made Tsukasa's face redder. "Well," Soujirou drawled, "you're hardly the type to be kissing on the sly. If I'm not mistaken, don't you still have virgin lips, virgin boy?"  
  
Tsukasa blushed hotly, but he did manage to retort, "I have kissed someone before!"  
  
"Your mother and your sister do not count," Soujirou stated firmly. "And I mean serious kissing: on the lips, French kissing, etc. The closest you've gotten is when Tsukushi and Shizuka kiss you on the forehead!"  
  
By this time, Tsukasa had turned a bright crimson color, but the fact he didn't open his mouth to say anything was quite telling. He couldn't lie, so when he didn't say anything that was his answer. All three of them started laughing even harder, while Tsukasa looked at them with a highly vexed expression. When Akira and Tsukushi finally arrived back at the table with their ice cream, they had confused looks on their faces that asked what had they missed out on?  
  
"I think we need a demonstration of what a real kiss is like!" Soujirou exclaimed. "Any volunteers?" He looked around and his gaze finally settled on Akira and Shizuka, who were sharing the ice cream Akira had gotten. "How about Shizuka and Akira giving Tsukasa a demonstration of a real kiss?"  
  
They look at each other almost shyly. Then Akira suggested instead, "Why don't you kiss Sara?"  
  
Sara glanced at Soujirou, and they both blushed. The rest of them look at the two of them, and they were happy to see them finally together again. Even though, Soujirou had never mentioned missing Sarah, they knew he had definitely missed her. He and Sara were like Tsukushi and Rui, their friendship was deep and true and lasting. Everyone definitely noticed a change as sublte as it was in Soujirou's happy face. He was normally cheerful, but there was an easier aura coming from his happiness now.  
  
"How about we take the day off?" Tsukushi remarked, coming from the girl that was the antithesis of F4. "It's been a while since Sara was here, we should show her around."  
  
~  
  
From where Rui was perched, he saw F3, Tsukushi, Sara, and Shizuka heading toward the parking lot which meant one thing--- they were leaving. He quickly rushed from where he was and ran after them, thinking he had to catch her before she left. He had to give her his apology and patch up their relationship back together again. He didn't want her to continue to be upset with him. He needed her.  
  
That epiphany nearly made him stop, but he quickly started up again when he saw her about to get into Tsukasa's car. It caused him to shout, "Tsukushi!"  
  
It was the first time she had heard in years Rui actually raising his voice to anyone, and if she wasn't mistaken, the last time had been at her too. He had been upset that she always came late to meet him because she was helping other people out. She had her hand on the door of Tsukasa's sports car. She was tempted to forget what he had said yesterday and forgive him, but if she did, he'd just assume he could treat her badly like Tsukasa had in the beginning when she had relented.  
  
So she opened the door and got into the sports car. She saw from the side mirror, Rui running after her, calling her name. If what he said yesterday hadn't happened, she'd have been overjoyed that he was coming out of his shell. But yesterday had happened and his words yesterday had hurt her worse than any physical torment that Tsukasa had put her through.  
  
"Let's go," she told Tsukasa in a lighthearted fashion.  
  
He glanced at her, then glanced back at the approaching Rui. "Are you sure you want to go?" he asked. She nodded and he accelerated the car. "Where to?"  
  
"Do you remember where Soujirou's favorite club is? That's where Sara and Shizuka decided to go because it has larger private rooms," she answered.  
  
Reaching into his pockets, Rui took out his keys and ran to his car. He almost didn't believe that Tsukushi wasn't willing to hear him out. But he knew what he'd said yesterday was cruel. But he had to make it up to her. He had to because--- because she meant so much to him.  
  
~  
  
"This is certainly interesting, "remarked Makiko. "Hanazawa Rui is normally passive to the point where he never shows any emotion." But from what she'd just seen had astonished her as much as it was making waves through the student body. Everyone was talking about it.  
  
Before she knew it, Kazuya had pounced on her and started chattering his worries about his Tsukushi as normal, "Do you really think that Tsukasa and Tsukushi are together? Because if they aren't, and she's rejected Rui--- that means, I can date her for myself! KYAAA!"  
  
Makiko shook her head and was thankful when she saw Yuki approaching them. "How was your exam?" she inquired, pointedly ignoring Kazuya and because she knew Yuki had had an important exam today that she had been worried all week about.  
  
"It went fine!" Yuki responded cheerfully. "Kazuya really helped me when he tutored me last night." She turned to him and smiled prettily. "Thank you so much, Kazuya! You were so kind to tutor me."  
  
He blushed and waved his hand like it was nothing. "I was glad that I was able to help you out. I was afraid that I wasn't very coherent in my explanations."  
  
"You were very clear and helpful," she insisted. "Thank you so much."  
  
Intrigued by the blush on Kazuya's face and the cheerful smile on Yuki's, Makiko wondered if there might possibly be something going on other than just the facade of tutoring. She thought that they'd make a cute and realistic couple if Kazuya was able to get over his obsession with Makino Tsukushi. That however was a big if, but as she watched them interact, Kazuya was amazingly attentive to Yuki, so it was a possibility. Definitely a possibility.  
  
Author's Note: I'm probably passed the halfway point. I could probably wrap up the story soon, but there's a twist in Ch.9 (which has taken me such a long time to write, b/c I was trying to write a bit between finals) that has made it not quite the end. There's also the problem that I'm getting a little bored with this story. I'm getting bored writing HYD/MG fanfics and I'm getting ready to move to another fandom soon, most likely Fruit Basket. Your support has been great, but don't be surprise if I don't update for a while. Thank you! 


	9. Vast Confrontations

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing! There's a more important note at the end of the chapter. Please read it!  
  
9: Vast Confrontations (December 13, 2002 to December 24, 2002)  
  
At the club, Tsukasa's cellphone rang and he didn't answer, pushing the ignore button to silence the phone. However, a few minutes later, his phone rang again and everyone gave Tsukasa the look to answer his phone, please! So he answered it. "Hello! Who is it?" he asked in an irritated voice.  
  
"DOUMYOUJI TSUKASA!" exclaimed a distinctively commanding voice, causing Tsukasa to pull the phone away from his ear. "Why didn't you answer the first time I called you? I've been looking for you everywhere!"  
  
"Why?" he inquired.  
  
"Because I'm in Japan right now!" she exclaimed. "Why aren't you at school right now? I swear you at least have to be at school even if you aren't going to go to class!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," he responded in an arrogant tone. "Why are you back in Japan?"  
  
There was a slight pause before she spoke, as if she were thinking about whether to tell him or not, "I'll tell you when you get home tonight. Right now, I need to go to sleep and catch up on the time difference. Bye."  
  
After that, she hanged the pone up on him, Tsukasa stared at his cell phone still stunned that Tsubaki was back. "So who was it?" Tsukushi asked.  
  
"Tsubaki," he answered, "she's back in Japan."  
  
"Wow, she is?" Tsukushi said excitedly. "Everyone's coming back. First, Shizuka; then, Sara; now, Tsubaki. You've got to tell her that she has to have dinner with us tonight, then the whole group will be back together again."  
  
"If Rui comes," Shizuka added softly.  
  
There was an awkward moment of silence before Tsukushi finally said in response, "How about someone call Rui and tell him about everything?"  
  
Tsukushi was wondering what everyone was looking at because even though they were looking in her direction, their eyes weren't focused on her. She soon found out why when she heard someone say, "There's no need to call me. I'm here," he stated. When she turned around and saw him, her eyes widened, he didn't give her anytime to think because he took her hand and pulled her with him declaring, "I need to talk to you!"  
  
She jerked her hand away from him. "I don't think we have anything to say to each other. You said enough last night!"  
  
He grabbed her hand again and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly against him even though she was struggling to get away from him. "Please," he begged, getting the desired response when she stopped fighting him, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I was just jealous and I had no right to say that about you."  
  
She glanced at him in surprise. "Why were you jealous?" she whispered her question softly.  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" When she shook her head, he remarked in a husky voice, "Because I really like you," he paused, his statement stunned himself as much as it stunned her. "And," he continued in a more controlled voice, "I'm sorry about what I said about you last night. Even though, I was jealous, I had no reason to take it out on you. I should have realized it wasn't you, that it was Tsukasa."  
  
Everyone looked at Tsukasa, wondering what his response would be to Rui's accusation. Surprisingly though, he didn't do or say anything, all he did was lean back in his chair, his gaze directed at Tsukushi. This caused everyone to redirect their gaze toward her. "It's no one's fault," she responded. "I think we do need to talk though." She tugged at his hand and they walked together to another private room.  
  
When they had left, Shizuka was the first one to say something, "I hope those two patch things up between the two of them. I've never seen Tsukushi mad at him and I've never seen Rui so outspoken before. I hope everything works out. I really do."  
  
Everyone echoed the same sentiments as Shizuka did except for Tsukasa, which wasn't a surprise, since everyone knew that Tsukasa wanted to be with Tsukushi. What surprised them was that he didn't protest Rui taking Tsukushi away, since normally he got extremely jealous. Tsukasa didn't even notice that they were all looking at him. He was lost in his own thoughts.  
  
~  
  
"Ouch, that really hurt Tsukasa!" Tsukushi exclaimed, rubbing her head where he'd hit her with the ball.  
  
For a moment, he'd felt sheepish and bad until he'd seen her turn away from him and focus her attention on Ruia gain. He wiggled his nose in disgust, what was so interesting about Hanazawa Rui, anyways? All he did was sit there and stare at something in the sky. Sometimes, she'd talk. But he never did. He thought Rui was really boring and that he was so much more interesting, so why didn't she play with him?  
  
He hadn't really wanted to hit her in the head with the ball, but that was the only way to get her attention. She was getting to be just as bad as Rui. The more he watched them, the more he didn't understand why she always chose Rui over him. He was Doumyouji Tsukasa, the very best! What more could she possibly want than him?  
  
"Hey Tsukasa!" called Soujirou, where he was dribbling the basketball. "let's play ball."  
  
"It's no fun with only three people," Tsukasa grumbled.  
  
"Of course not," Soujirou agreed, "Akira's asking Rui to play with us. Actuallly, he's probably going to ask Tsukushi to ask him, but whatever." He got a teasing smile on his face. "Besides, if Rui plays, Tsukushi will watch."  
  
Soujirou got the desired response when Tsukasa blushed and grabbed the basketball. "We'd better warm up! We can't lost to those two!" Actually, Tsukasa couldn't stand losing to Rui or anyone, but especially Rui.  
  
And as Soujirou predicted Rui came because Tsukushi had asked him to and because he'd come, she'd come to watch him play ball. "First to ten?" Akira suggested, pulling off his shirt, which caused the nearby girls to stop and ogle him.  
  
"That's fine by us," Tsukasa retorted, also pulling off his shirt. "Heads or tails, Rui?"  
  
"Tails," Rui said softly. He watched Tsukasa flip the coin and saw it land on tails, which caused Tsukasa to throw the ball quite hard at Rui.  
  
Rui tossed the ball to Akira, who quickly dodged both Soujirou and Tsukasa before making a fake throw, which caught Soujirou off guard, allowing him to dunk. The nearby girls clapped appreciatively and he winked at them before passing the ball over to Soujirou. The game continued on with Tsukasa shoving hard past Akira and Rui to score, causing Rui to lose his balance and fall hard onto his hand.  
  
Tsukasa smirked but that only lasted briefly when Tsukushi rushed over to Rui to kneel down next to him. "Are you okay?" she inquired softly. He nodded and lifted his hand up to her. She smiled and kissed the spot on his hand that was bleeding.  
  
"COME ON!" Tsukasa shouted. "Let's play!"  
  
Grabbing onto the hand that Akira offered him, Rui got up. The game was close the entire way until Rui stole the ball from Tsukasa and threw the ball from downtown. Tsukushi then ran up and hugged both Akira and Rui. Tsukasa threw the ball hard to the ground and left the court, pushing several girls away that offered him water and towels. "Get away you ugly cows!" he yelled at them. Soujirou smiled apologetically at the girls and ran after Tsukasa.  
  
"Sore loser," Akira commented. "Are you really okay, Rui?"  
  
"Yeah," Rui responded, "Tsukushi made it better."  
  
His comment caused her to blush. "Are you guys going to class?"  
  
They shook their heads. "I'm heading over to Rui's place," Akira responded. "Shizuka's back from her trip to Korea, right, Rui?"  
  
"She is," he answered, "but she's not staying with me this time."  
  
"Then where is she staying then?" Akira questioned. "You are her only relative here."  
  
"Her parents are back form France now," Rui replied. "They've bought a house near mine, though."  
  
"Wow, her parents came back? That's great! I know, she's missed them," Tsukushi remarked. "Why don't we go then? I haven't seen my godparents in forever."  
  
From where he was standing, Tsukasa saw and heard everything. A part of him wished he could join them, but he resisted. Even though their group seemed very cohesive, there were actually two main division in F4: Akira and Rui, Soujirou and himself.  
  
~  
  
He closed the door behind them. "What I said earlier is true. I really do like you," he whispered softly to her, looking at her with a quiet intensity in his eyes. "I really want this engagement to work." He took her hand and held it.  
  
"I broke the engagement Rui," she stated, pulling her hand away from his. "I don't think we're ready to be engaged yet. At least, I'm not," she explained. "I'm sorry."  
  
He nodded stiffly. "Is it because of him?"  
  
She knew who he meant. "It's not because of him. It's not because I don't like you, it's because I'm scared."  
  
With his hand, he tilted her chin up so their eyes met. "So my brave little Tsukushi is finally afraid?" He smiled softly and lowered his hand. "Do you think I'm not afraid?" he queried. "Why do you think I was so solemn about the whole thing in the beginning? Because if it didn't work out, we'd lose what we have."  
  
"Yes," she agreed in a choked voice. "At first," she began, "I thought this was a good thing, but now, I'm not so sure that it is. I think I want things to stay the same Rui. I don't want things to change. I can't bear to lose you."  
  
If she had been saying these words meaning something else, he would have been so happy. But she meant it in the way she meant and he was disappointed. If she had said it a few days ago, maybe he wouldn't have been so disappointed, but it was now--- and he was. Something had changed in that short amount of time. "I'm going to go back," she declared abruptly, turning around and walking away from him.  
  
He wanted to shout to her what he was thinking, but that wasn't his nature. He was only able to whisper once she was too far to hear, "Things have changed Tsukushi; things have already changed." He sighed and followed her back to where the others were sitting. He felt down and out of it, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he put the blank expression that was customary for him on his face and sat down besides Tsukushi, who smiled at him like nothing had happened.  
  
"So did you guys work your problem out?" Soujirou asked immediately.  
  
Tsukushi made like she didn't hear him and suggested, "Why don't we go see Tsubaki?" She got up and grabbed Rui's hand and led him out. The rest thought that was a silent answer, but Shizuka knew better as she watched the rest file after the broken pair. "Why are you going to do now, Rui?" she asked herself silently.  
  
~  
  
As usual, Tsukasa was being his annoying self, earnestly trying to do everything within his willpower to make Tsukushi miserable. "I don't see why you're so fond of this ugly teddy bear. It's all ragged," Tsukasa remarked in disdain, holding the teddy bear high enough so that she couldn't reach it. But he held it low enough to keep her jumping to try to get it. Soujirou and Akira watched with amusement, but didn't bother to try to help Tsukushi.  
  
It wasn't that they didn't sympathize with her, but they had realized early on that if there was one thing Tsukasa really dislike was when someone interrupted his play with Tsukushi. If Rui had been there, he probably would have snatched the stuffed animal and walked off with Tsukushi following faithfully behind. However, Rui wasn't there, probably getting in his typical 15 hours of sleep. After all, it was only 11.  
  
"Give me that back, Tsukasa, you pig!" she shouted, jumping up once again. He shook his head and continued to taunt her when someone whacked him hard on the head and snatched the bear away from him. Tsukushi's eyes widened and she gasped.  
  
The older girl smiled at her and whacked Tsukasa on the head again when he yelped, "Whoever that was is going to die!" He turned around all prepared to hit the person when the girl kicked him in the face and put her foot firmly in the middle of his chest when he'd hit the ground because he was off balance. "Tsubaki, what are you doing here?!"  
  
Tsukushi ran up to Tsubaki and with childish adoring eyes, she exclaimed, "Wow, where did you learn to do that? Can you teach me?"  
  
Tsubaki smiled at Tsukushi and handed her the stuffed animal. "Of course," she responded and offered the little girl her hand, "I'm Tsubaki, this idiot's older sister, and who might you be? Tsukushi?"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
Tsubaki smiled and was about to say something positively embarrassing when Tsukasa leapt up and closed her mouth with his hand. "I've told her what an annoying brat you are, such a stupid girl as well. OOWWWW!" he screamed as he held the finger Tsubaki had bitten.  
  
"HMMPH," she responded, "I don't remember him saying no such thing. If I remember correctly, he was trying to tell me about this really cute girl that he likes to bother because she's so cute when she gets angry at him!"  
  
~  
  
Actually, the whole group hadn't gone to Tsukasa's house because Soujirou had to run off to do an emergency tea ceremony at the last minute and Sara, of course, had gone with him to give him her support. And it seemed there was an important family business meeting that Rui and Shizuka had to attend, thus they were unable to go. Lastly, Akira decided that he might as well go home and spend some time with his younger twin sisters, since the group wasn't really doing anything special, which left Tsukasa and Tsukushi to go meet Tsubaki.  
  
When they arrived at Tsukasa's immense mansion, the butler told Tsukasa that his sister was having a full body massage and that she'd be out in a little bit. So Tsukasa and Tsukushi sat down together in an awkward silence because things had changed between them since his confession to her. Besides that, they had never really had a conversation without arguing heatedly with each other. Tsukasa had finally gathered his thoughts together to speak when Tsubaki exclaimed from across the room, "Perfect timing! I'm feelings much better after that massage!"  
  
It was as she was stretching that she caught sight of Tsukushi. "Hi, Tsubaki!" she greeted warmly, walking over and giving her a hug. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine," she answered and looking extremely apologetic, she remarked, "I need to speak to Tsukasa about something that's private."  
  
Tsukushi nodded, completely understanding. She smiled and reassured Tsukasa because he had an irritated expression on his face. "I'll wait for you guys in the formal room until you're ready, okay? Take your time and talk. I know that it's been a while."  
  
Once she left, Tsukasa let his annoyance show fully. "What do you want to talk about?"  
  
"What? No hug?" Tsubaki retorted. "I guess you're not glad I'm here. What an ungrateful brat!"  
  
"Of course, I'm glad you're back!" he shouted. "But what do you have to say? Why are you here?"  
  
"Mother sent me," Tsubaki answered calmly, grabbing his full attention.  
  
He stared at his older sister, wondering for what reason his mother had for sending his sister to him. "Then again, if it had been really important, his mother would have come herself, right?! "What does the hag want?" he asked in a biting voice.  
  
Tsubaki raised her eyebrow and even though she agreed with her younger brother, he still shouldn't be voicing his low opinion of their mother so verbally. "She's still our mother," she reminded him lightly. "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"  
  
"Bad news."  
  
"She sent me here to tell you of your arranged marriage to Ookawahara Shigeru." When she saw the stunned look on her brother's face, she quickly continued, "Do you want to hear the good news?" He shrugged and she took that as a yes. "She says you don't have to come to New York, anymore."  
  
"Wow," he remarked derisively. "All she wants instead is for me to get married to a girl I don't know and dislike. And I can't believe that you're helping her! Have you ever told her how miserable your marriage has made you?"  
  
"That's not the point," she interrupted firmly. "And because of what happened to me, I won't let that happen to you. I made mother let me choose through eligible candidates, that I though were suited for you. My first choice happened to be hers as well. Shigeru's a charming and intelligent young woman with a temperament to match your own, which might not be a good thing. But things will never be boring."  
  
At the dubious expression on his face, she placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "At least, give her a chance, if you flat out reject her, that gives mother a free hand in choosing your bride. That was the only way I could negotiate."  
  
He was stunned his sister had gone so far to ensure that he didn't end up like she had. And he had to grudgingly admit that his older sister had good judgment. After all, it was she that realized what a great girl Tsukushi was. It'd taken him way too long to realize that. He knew he could trust Tsubaki; he just didn't trust his mother, Doumyouji Kaede.  
  
Author's Note: Well, what relationships would you like me to explore further than the obvious? Rui/Tsukushi, Tsukasa/Shigeru being the obvious. Of the not obvious are Akira/Shizuka, Soujirou/Sara, and Kazuya/Yuki. The only possible switch is that I may switch Sara/Yuki, but I doubt it since I'm going for alternate, alternate pairings. Reviews are much appreciated!  
  
Check out my original novel: Secret, A Tale of Love 


	10. Fateful Events

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing! There's a more important note at the end of the chapter. Please read it!  
  
10: Fateful Events (December 24, 2002 to December 28, 2002)  
  
She sat there stunned. Actually, she was more than stunned, she felt she was petrified there. She didn't know how she was suppose to respond. She really shouldn't have been surprised as she was. After all, hadn't her own parents just arranged an arranged marriage for her? But of all people for an arranged marriage to happen to, the last person in her mind that it'd happen to was Tsukasa. She just didn't see him submitting to that at all. It wasn't like him. It wasn't like him at all.  
  
"Say something Tsukushi," Tsukasa urged, having an utterly adorable expression on his face if she had even glanced at him. But ever since he had told her that he was engaged to an Ookawahara Shigeru, the name was vaguely familiar as it had to be. She didn't see Doumyouji Kaede engaging her son to anyone but a high socialite, and a socialite of equal rank. "Tsukushi! Did you even hear what I said?"  
  
She finally nodded when he grabbed her by the arms and started shaking her. He only let go after Tsubaki hit him on the head. "What do you think you're doing? Didn't you see she nodded at you? She heard what you said!" his sister shouted at him.  
  
Tsubaki's voice brought Tsukushi back into reality. It wasn't that she was upset, she just didn't see the arrangement fitting with Tsukasa's personality at all. She didn't really see it fitting with Rui, as passive as he was. She sighed and hoped that Rui wouldn't remain mad at her for too long, she hadn't meant to hurt him. Didn't he see that it was for the best? If they're arranged marriage went wrong, they could end up hating each other and she couldn't stand the thought of hating her best friend.  
  
"I'm starving," Tsukasa declared, "let's go eat. Come on, Tsukushi." He grabbed her hand and dragged her with him to the dining room, while Tsubaki watched with an amused smile. Sometimes, she wondered if Tsukushi might like her brother like her brother liked her. She hadn't really thought it was other than friendship, but seeing Tsukushi's shocked expression made her reconsider things. Maybe Tsukushi really did like Tsukasa. She hadn't even thought to consider Tsukushi, since it was obvious to her that Tsukushi liked Rui. She'd have to speak to her about it.  
  
~  
  
"Dinner was good," Tsukasa commented, smiling at the two most important women in his life, his sister and Tsukushi. He leaned back against his chair and stared at them. "So now what are we going to do?"  
  
His sister took Tsukushi's hand and got up. "I need to talk with Tsukushi, I hope you don't mind?" If he minded, she didn't really care because she really wanted to speak to Tsukushi. So she gave him that look that basically said whatever his opinion was to voice what she wanted him to voice.  
  
"Of course, I don't mind," he muttered with an edge that hinted that he didn't. Of course, Tsukushi didn't catch it because she was wondering what Tsubaki wanted to talk to her about. It was making her extremely curious and she wanted to find out.  
  
As soon as they had left the room and gone up the stairs to Tsubaki's room, she asked, "What do you want to talk to me about, Tsubaki?"  
  
Tsubaki smiled and gestured for Tsukushi to take a seat, which she did on the bed where Tsubaki immediately sat down besides her. "I just wanted to talk to you about something." She looked like she didn't know precisely what she wanted to say, which was unusual for Tsubaki since for as long as Tsukushi had known Tsubaki, Tsubaki had always had something to say. Tsubaki always knew what she wanted to say.  
  
"Which is?" Tsukushi inquired in a half confused and half amused tone that Tsubaki was being secretive about it, which was not like Tsukasa's straightforward older sister at all. It drover her crazy with curiosity why Tsubaki was staring at her with a contemplative look that looked like she was dying to say something, but wasn't. Very unlike Tsubaki, who spoke out her mind much like her younger brother. "I know you're dying to say something."  
  
"I am," Tsubaki agreed. "I guess I should just say it." She seemed to brace herself, and Tsukushi was thinking that whatever she was going to say was going to be amazing and very, very important. Overwhelming was also the thought that hit her. "How are things with Rui?"  
  
Tsukushi blinked. She hadn't been expecting that, she'd been expecting something far more provoking than that. It wasn't a question that surprised, probably because so many things had happened with Rui. She knew that Tsubaki didn't know, and who better to go to than Tsubaki who wasn't as partial to Rui as Shizuka was? "Things are very confusing," she admitted honestly.  
  
From the very beginning, she related to Tsubaki the whole of her story. How Rui and she had been engaged by their respective parents. How Rui had gotten jealous over Tsukasa and had said some very painful things to her that had caused her to get very upset and hurt. And how it had ended with her breaking up the engagement for the best, because she didn't want another episode like that to happen where  
  
"I always thought you and Rui would make the perfect couple," Tsubaki finally said after consuming all the information that Tsukushi had related to her. She still couldn't get over the soap opera like circumstances, and she couldn't believe that Tsukushi didn't see how much Rui obviously liked her and how much she obviously liked Rui. "I think you and he would still make a perfect couple."  
  
"That's the same thing Shizuka says," Tsukushi responded numbly, not wanting to believe that perhaps she had been too rash as she tended to be when she was emotionally upset. "That Rui and I make a perfect couple."  
  
"Because you do!" Tsubaki exclaimed in full agreement with Shizuka. "Don't you see? You're hurt that he hurt you, but if you had really been more aware of the full circumstances of the situation that you'd see he really likes you as more than a friend. That he was only confused about his feelings before when he was acting so cold to you. I don't know Rui quite as well as Akira or Soujirou, but I do know that he tends to keep things to himself and carefully thinks of everything before he does them. And he's always sincere when he says something."  
  
"I just don't want to lose the friendship we have," Tsukushi said in a still uncertain voice, though what Tsubaki was saying was finally getting to her because unlike Shizuka, she knew Tsubaki wasn't biased toward Rui. Shizuka tended to see Rui as her little brother, always pushing him and doing whatever she thought was best for him. She also wanted what was the best for Rui. "And what he said, only seemed to confirm my own worst fear. And of course, your brother telling me he liked me was also surprising."  
  
Tsubaki laughed. "I don't see why that was a surprise at all. That's what I really wanted to talk to you about. That maybe you liked my brother? Which was why you had a stunned expression on your face when I told about his engagement to Shigeru, but that's obviously not it. Is it?"  
  
"No, it isn't," Tsukushi responded, "I only see Tsukasa as a friend. I was just surprised that Tsukasa wasn't protesting over the engagement."  
  
"He did," Tsubaki replied, "earlier. And from what you've told me, I think that inside you're just mad at Rui for being so indifferent about the engagement, apart from being scared of the changes it'll bring. You've been so close for so long, that it's a wonder you haven't thought of Rui as something more..."  
  
Carefully considering what Tsubaki said, Tsukushi had to admit that in her words, there rang an undeniable truth. She'd been upset that Rui had been so uncaring about the engagement, like it was nothing while she had secretively been quite excited about it. Ever since she was little, he'd been her Prince Charming.  
  
~  
  
"I made you a bento today!" Tsukushi exclaimed as she sat down besides Rui. She hadn't really made the bento precisely, since she didn't know how to cook. But she had told her cook what foods that she had seen Rui eat and noticed that he'd like and had told her cook to make those foodstuff.  
  
As she watched him look at the bento with curiosity before he smiled gratefully at her and opened it up to discover all of his favorite foods in it. "Thanks, Tsukushi," he murmured, digging into the bento with a delighted expression on his face. He didn't really realized that she knew him that well that she knew what he'd like to eat, it was a pleasant surprise.  
  
She beamed and watched him eat the bento, obviously of everything else other than how the sun shining down on Rui made him look precisely like the Prince Charming in the fairytale stories that her mother had always read to her when she was a little girl. She blushed when a bit of food got stuck on his face and she reached her hand to wipe it off. Again, he smile gratefully at her only made her face pinker.  
  
"You look cute when you're pink," he commented randomly as he tended to do all the time. "Why aren't you eating?" he questioned when he saw her still unopened bento in front of her. He grinned and reached his hand to it. "Silly girl, if you aren't going to eat it, do you want me to?"  
  
She gasped and grabbed her bento away from his greedy hands. "You little pig!" she cried out. "Your bento's much bigger than mine because I know you have such a big appetite for such a thin boy!"  
  
He was still smiling, Rui was one of his classic good moods. A very sunny and charming mood, charming like Prince Charming. When he smiled like that, it made her quite breathless to see how it transformed his face from the marble statute his face normally was into something warmer and a whole deal more alive, and touchable. She ducked her face to the side and took a slow steady breath, it was he who was the one that was cute, not she.  
  
~  
  
"From the look on your face," Tsubaki began, "I can tell you were considering what I said carefully. From what interaction between you two that I saw, I'd say you were closer than just friends. But I can understand your concern. But don't you think from what you told me that he says, that you ought to give it a chance? You'll never know unless you try."  
  
She smiled then, a real smile and hugged Tsubaki. "I'm so glad you're here!" she exclaimed. "You and Shizuka are the only close friends that I have that are girls! I don't think those silly boys realize that sometimes I need a girl to confide in and not a boy!"  
  
Tsubaki smiled and hugged her back, Tsukushi was like a little sister to her. "I'm glad I've helped you. I know you want to hold back, but sometimes it's not always a good thing to do."  
  
The way Tsubaki said it seemed to come from some knowledge deep inside of her. She'd always wonder why Tsubaki had gone to New York when the one that she loved was here in Taiwan. Eventually, she'd pressed Tsukasa hard enough and he had told her the entire story. How their mother had forced Tsubaki to marry a family that was in the business of hotels, since it'd only aid their mother's own thriving business.  
  
"It's because you held back and let your mother push you into something you didn't want?" Tsukushi murmured softly. She didn't know who was more surprised, she or Tsubaki.  
  
"How did you know?" Tsubaki asked, then gave a small hollow laugh. "Of course," she remarked, "Tsukasa, I should have known. My little brother needs to have a lesson in when to keep his mouth shut. It's okay. You're the one person I don't mind him to tell. You're like the little sister that I never had."  
  
"Are you unhappy?"  
  
Tsubaki shrugged. "I wish I hadn't held back and let my mother control me. It wasn't like me to make things easy on her, but I did and I don't know why. But life's not as long as you think. I remember being your age and thinking that I'd have everything and that I had all the time in the world. If it's because you're scared of what you'll lose, you should think about how much you'll gain."  
  
She smiled sadly. "I let my mother's words get into my head. I let her make me believe all that I could lose. She was going to disinherit me, you know if I married him. At least, that was what she threatened to do. But looking back, I was too caught thinking of what I'd lose to think of what I'd gain. I was pessimistic when I should have been optimistic, it was the biggest mistake of my life. I'd hate for that to happen to you."  
  
"Maybe I was being pessimistic," Tsukushi admitted. "I was kind of excited when I first heard the news, but he didn't seem excited at all. I guess that kind dampened my own emotions about it. And when I heard he was afraid, that only heightened my fear and I reacted the wrong way. I should have been happy that he finally said he liked me, but I was too caught up in my fear."  
  
"Just like me," Tsubaki murmured. "We're really similar. Just don't end up like me, promise?"  
  
Tsukushi grinned. "I promise." She linked her pinky with the pinky that Tsubaki, swearing the ultimate friendship swear that she was going to go after the optimistic side and not let the pessimistic side drive her downward.  
  
"Now that you're going after Rui," Tsubaki remarked, "how about helping me set up Tsukasa with Shigeru? Of course, that's after you meet her. Then you'll see how perfect Shigeru is for him! I mean when I first met her, all I could think was this is the type of girl I'd like to see with my little Tsukasa. She reminds me a little of you in a respect, but she much more hard headed than you are, about as hard headed as Tsukasa."  
  
Tsukushi chuckled. "I'm game, when do I get to meet her?"  
  
~  
  
After the quite boring business meeting, Rui was driving Shizuka back to the house her parents had just bought. They'd driven mostly in silence when they'd pulled up into her driveway and Shizuka dropped the question she'd been dying to ask all night, "So what are you going to do about Tsukushi?"  
  
He shrugged. "I don't know. Why do you ask?" he inquired like nothing major had happened, but Shizuka knew him too well to let him faze her with a nonchalant question like that. He'd forgotten that she'd helped changed his diapers and she'd held him when he'd cried when he was little. She was something in between a mother and a sister for him.  
  
"I know you, Rui," she remarked. "And I know Tsukushi as well, I know that something has happened between the two of you even though F3 can't see that something is wrong. Both you and Tsukushi were uncomfortable when Soujirou asked if you'd worked your problem out. You two were already little awkward sitting together when you two got back. What happened?"  
  
"She broke the engagement," Rui responded simply, managing to stun Shizuka.  
  
She stared at him in absolute shock. At the worst, she'd thought that Tsukushi hadn't accepted Rui's apology, but she'd never have expected Tsukushi to break it. For the longest time, she had thought they'd make a cute couple, and when she'd heard they were engaged, that had only made her hopes and dreams for them rise. But they were horribly dashed now, now that she'd heard this shocking news.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Shizuka asked softly in a much concerned voice. "Seriously, you like her don't you? You're always so passive about everything, if you want her you have to go after her. That's what a man is suppose to do. Girls don't chase boys, Rui."  
  
"I know," he murmured. "I told her I liked her and she told me she'd broken the engagement," he said this in a very accepting voice. Before Shizuka could ask him why, he explained for her because he knew she'd ask, "She's scared as I was scared when I first heard the news. I was afraid that it change the relationship we had for the worst, but I know now that I like her and I'm not afraid to take this chance."  
  
"Then you have to go after her, Rui," Shizuka murmured. "If you don't want to lose her, you're going to have to chase her. There's one thing I'm absolute certain about Tsukushi, she won't come back to you crawling. That's not the way she is, even if she regrets her decision. You're the one that's going to have to go after her."  
  
"I know," he replied. "I know."  
  
Author's Note: Reviews are much appreciated and needed cuz I haven't started Ch.11 yet ^^;;. I've always been at least ½ a chapter ahead, but not this time, but it's been a long time since I released for me (5 days) so I thought maybe if I released, something someone said would inspire me. Thanks!  
  
Check out my original novel: Secret, A Tale of Love 


	11. Perfect Combination

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
11: Perfect Combination (December 31, 2002 to January 2, 2003)  
  
"Well, we've got to go now!" Tsubaki remarked as they waved goodbye to Shigeru. As soon as Shigeru was out of earshot, Tsubaki turned to Tsukushi and asked, "So what do you think of her?"  
  
Tsukushi was still watching the fading figure of Shigeru. Not only was Shigeru beautiful and intelligent, she was strong and forceful--- a perfect match for Tsukasa! "We're going to be really good friends," she remarked. "Not only that, but she's perfect for Tsukasa. You've got good taste, Tsubaki."  
  
"Yes, I do," Tsubaki agreed. "Now, all I have to do is introduce the two of them together. I wonder what would be the best situation for that?" As Tsubaki was thinking, she saw the wistful expression on Tsukushi's face and hit upon the perfect idea. "Do you guys have to go to school tomorrow?"  
  
"Well," Tsukushi admitted, "I don't have to, but I like to go to school. It really isn't as draggy as Tsukasa and F3 complain it to be. I don't mind it, it's fun in a way and it passes time better than their time wasting away at a bar. What's your idea then?"  
  
"Well," Tsubaki began, "I was thinking that I ought to ask everyone to come along. You and Tsukasa were telling me how everyone's back in town, so we might as well as arranged an entire group outing tomorrow! We can go to the hot springs in the mountain and spend a long weekend there. It'll give everyone plenty of time to forge their relationships!"  
  
Tsukushi blushed and thought that it'd also give her time to reach out to Rui again. What Tsubaki had said to her earlier tonight made perfect sense to her now. She should try because hadn't Rui always been her Prince Charming? She just wished though that she wasn't always the one that had to reach out to him though. It'd be nice if he could reach out to her just once. That was all she wanted was to see if he was willing to reach out to her. Knowing Rui, that was even a possibility. He wasn't the kind of person that reached out.  
  
"It'll be perfect!" Tsubaki exclaimed happily. "You have to spend the night and help me plan it and to make sure I have all the couples right. It'll be Tsukasa and Shigeru, Soujirou and Sara, Akira and Shizuka, and... you and..."  
  
"Me and Rui," Tsukushi finished with a smile. She knew Rui wasn't the outgoing type, so she'd have to go after him. Typical, typical of her, how she'd like things to change, but if she just waited, the moment would pass her by and she'd live with regrets. If there was one good advice her parents gave her was not to live with any regrets!  
  
~  
  
Shizuka placed the phone back onto the receiver and smiled at the sleeping Rui, who had looked so tired that she had told him he ought to spend the night with her like he had when he'd been a baby. He'd grumbled, but sleep had been far too tempting. Even though he lived close by, it still would have taken a while before he could rest in a nice, comfortable bed. So he'd taken her up on the offer of a comfortable bed to stay in.  
  
She nudged him and she kept nudging him until she got him to open his eyes. "We're going to the hot springs tomorrow." He nodded and closed his eyes again. "It'll be a good opportunity for you." That got him to open his eyes again. "Tsukushi is going. Basically, Tsubaki filled me in with all the details. It's basically a trip to get Tsukasa and Shigeru together, Shigeru's his arranged fiancé. Also to get you and Tsukushi back together and to get Sara and Soujirou closer together. Tsubaki has a wily mind, I have to admit."  
  
"Tsukushi is going?" he queried drowsily, but in the back of his mind he was excited. Ever since his conversation earlier in the night with Shizuka, he'd been pondering what he was going to do to woo her back to him. He'd never actually wooed any girl, so he really didn't know how to go about it. He was tempted to ask Akira and Soujirou their advice, but that would only spark their animated interest in his nonexistent love life, interest he could do without. And that was also the reason Shizuka had been able to get him up so easily because he hadn't really been asleep long.  
  
"Yes," Shizuka answered, "she's going, it's your chance to make it up to her. I won't give you advice on how to do it because I know that the little baby that I took care of when we were both younger knows how to charm Tsukushi if he wants to. All you have to do is to be yourself and you'll win her back, I know it because she loves you if she's willing to admit it or not, and you love her if you don't know it. She's the only one I've ever seen you act like Tsukasa about, childish and entirely immature."  
  
Shizuka really knew how to get her point across. "Of course, I love her," Rui remarked, "she's my best friend."  
  
"You love her in another way," Shizuka added. "You just don't know it yet. My foolish little Rui, I who taught you about life, and yet you still cannot see the truth that is in front of your eyes."  
  
"Are you going to go back to France?" he questioned, entirely switching the topic, not unlike Rui.  
  
"Eventually, yes," she responded. "Will you miss me? What will you do without me?"  
  
"It's not me that you have to ask that question to," he said softly. "You taught me about life, yes, but can you see the truth in front of your eyes? What about Akira? He thinks you're staying permanently."  
  
She turned back and stared at him, not quite sure how to answer the question that she had been thinking about ever since she left France the first time and ever since she had gotten back. She just didn't know, all she knew was that she wanted to make her own way in the world and that her place was in France, it was, she knew it. That was where she belonged.  
  
~  
  
"So are you going to go?" Tsubaki asked.  
  
He had to admit the motivations behind the trip was a good one. Both he and Shizuka had agreed that it was past time that Rui and Tsukushi admitted that they had feelings for each other. But he was a bit wary of going since it was also to set up Tsukasa with his arranged fiancé. If he went, it basically meant that he was giving his support to the engagement when he hadn't even met the girl, Shigeru.  
  
Then again, Tsubaki had said that Shizuka was going and if it was a couples' retreat, there was a chance that he and Shizuka might hit it off even more than they had. Ever since she'd been back, she'd been avoiding him and he didn't know why. But if he went on the retreat, she wouldn't have a chance to avoid him by her numerous past excuses like she had to do something for her relatives or that she had a hair appointment. The springs were isolated.  
  
"I'll go," he declared. "What time tomorrow do I have to get ready?"  
  
"Early," she responded, "around 9ish."  
  
"That's fine. Meet at your place or are you picking us up?" he inquired.  
  
"Let's meet here, okay? See you tomorrow." With that she placed the phone on the receiver and scratched Akira's name off the list. There was really only one more person to call, Soujirou and Sara. Of all the F4, Soujirou was the one she didn't know that would really want to go. He didn't really have an incentive, and she couldn't bully him like her brother. However, the good thing was that Soujirou was the partygoer and that was one thing he didn't miss out on was fun. With that, she dialed his number.  
  
Akira clicked his cell phone off and turned his attention back to his over energized twin sisters. "I'm sorry," he declared, "but I won't be able to take you to the park tomorrow."  
  
"Why not?!" they both exclaimed, clutching his pants.  
  
He grinned down at his impish twin sisters, adorable yet quite dangerous. He had to be careful and not make them cry. "I have to go somewhere else tomorrow," he explained. On cue, they started to whimper, their tears were coming, but he knew exactly how to make those tears go away. "Shizuka will be there."  
  
"Oh!" cried out both of them. They were still great at talking simultaneously. "Does that mean you and Shizuka will get married soon?"  
  
He shrugged. "I have no idea, but wish me luck, okay?"  
  
His sisters jumped into his open arms and cried out, "Go get her, Akira! Go get her! Go get her!"  
  
~  
  
"I need to talk to her about it before I decide whether to go or not," Soujirou told Tsubaki. "I'll call you back afterwards, okay?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
Soujirou hung his phone up and turned to Sara, who was looking at him expectantly. "So what was that about?" she asked. "What do you need to talk to me about?"  
  
He grinned at her and patted the place next to him on his bed. When she sat down, he began to tell her, "Tsubaki just called. I'm not sure if you remember anything about her since you only met her a few times, but she's Tsukasa's older sister. She just invited us to go to a hot springs retreat tomorrow."  
  
"Don't you have school tomorrow?" she queried.  
  
He shrugged. "We've skipped days before. It seems that everyone is going. But you said that you had something that you really wanted to show me tomorrow morning, but they leave tomorrow. They want us there by 9ish, and right now it's kind of late. We can always pack tomorrow. Can you show me what you want to show me later or do you want to show me tomorrow? It's no big deal, I can call it off."  
  
"It's no problem at all!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "What I want to show you can wait, it'll be there for quite a while. It's not that late, we can start packing now. I'll help you if you want. I don't mind. I've wanted to go a good hot springs since I've gotten back. But I've just never have had the time."  
  
He smiled. "Then I'll call Tsubaki and tell her that we're going. You can go to your room and we'll start helping you pack first."  
  
"Okay," she agreed and she happily skipped over to her room. He smiled fondly at her and dialed Tsubaki back. "We're going," he told her bluntly, knowing that Tsubaki was a straightforward person. "We'll meet you there at 9."  
  
"Good," Tsubaki responded, "that means everybody is going."  
  
~  
  
At 9 the next morning, there was only two people that were missing. As predictable, Shizuka and Rui were late. Shizuka was late because Rui was obviously having a problem getting up in the morning as normal. It wasn't a big surprise to anyone. Tsubaki was getting awfully annoyed that Rui was late though when she'd specifically told Shizuka to be here at 8:30 since she knew Rui had the tendency to be late, especially in the mornings. Timeliness with Rui could never be counted on in the mornings.  
  
Bets were going on between Tsukasa, Soujirou, and Akira on what time Rui would show up. That only seemed to make Tsubaki more annoyed so they reluctantly stopped their bets. It was when they stopped that Rui and Shizuka made their far from timely appearance at 9:30. Shizuka smiled apologetically at Tsubaki and immediately began explaining, "I tried to get him up at 8, but I couldn't make him get up until 9 and he still had to pack. So sorry about our tardiness."  
  
Shizuka poked Rui in the side, trying to get him to apologize as well, but Rui had already left her side and gone over to where Tsukushi was sitting on the bench. He sat down next to her. Everyone turned their attention to the silent couple before Tsubaki shouted, "EVERYONE, pay attention!" Everyone then turned their attention to Tsubaki. "There are two cars for 9 people. I don't care how you guys split up, but there will be 5 in one car and 4 in another. Let's get going so we can get there by lunch time!"  
  
The F4 got together and decided in a very easy fashion who would be in one car vs. the other. Tsukasa wanted Tsukushi with him; Rui also wanted Tsukushi; Soujirou wanted Sara; and of course, Akira wanted Shizuka. So it was decided that in one car there would be: Tsubaki, Tsukasa, Rui, Tsukushi, and Shigeru. In the other car, it was Soujirou, Akira, Sara, and Shizuka.  
  
Soon, they were piled into both cars with Tsubaki driving and Shigeru sitting next to her in the front and sandwiched between Rui and Tsukasa was where Tsukushi was. In the other car, it was much more comfortable as Akira was driving with Shizuka sitting next to him with Sara and Soujirou in the backseat. Within ten minutes, they were on the road to the hot springs.  
  
~  
  
"Stop fussing!" Tsubaki screamed at Tsukasa, Akira, and Soujirou who were fussing in the very back of the van. However, in the row right behind Tsubaki, Rui and Tsukushi sat their quietly. She had no idea what they were doing, but whatever they were doing was better than the ruckus that her idiotic younger brother was making with Akira and Soujirou. "If you three don't stop making all that noise and moving the car around with your roughhousing, I won't take you to the amusement park!"  
  
That definitely grabbed their attentions and they quieted down momentarily, for at least ten minutes before they again got bored and started up their troublemaking again. Akira had dared Soujirou to moon the car behind him and Soujirou in his usual good humor agreed. However, in the front, Tsubaki had heard the dare and had yelled at the top of her lungs, "DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT MOONING THE PEOPLE BEHIND US NISHIKADO SOUJIROU!"  
  
She slammed on the brakes and Soujirou flew across the van and landed partially on top of Tsukushi and Rui, hitting his head on the floor. "Owwwww," he complained, "that hurt, Tsubaki!"  
  
"Good!" she exclaimed, hitting him on the head. "If you think about doing anything else, I'll turn around and drive back to your house!"  
  
"Ouch!" he retorted, rubbing the back of his head. "I'll be good, I promise." He gave Tsubaki one of his younger heartbreaker smiles, which of course failed to work on Tsukasa's older sister.  
  
"You'll be good," she agreed, smiling back at him. "You're going to sit next to me on the way there!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him until he was seated next to her. She turned around, glaring at Akira and Tsukasa. "I'll but you guys in the trunk if you keep up your mischief."  
  
Akira and Tsukasa quieted down, though every once and a while Tsubaki would have to shout at them to shut up. Meanwhile, Rui and Tsukushi continued on with their silent conversation. Whenever she glanced back, all she saw them doing was playing with each other's hands. It was at a red light that she finally caught on to what they were doing. They were writing notes to each other in each other's hand with their fingers! Rather ingenious considering that the car wasn't very private, and quite romantic as well.  
  
She focused her attentions in on Rui, who seemed to stare at Tsukushi a great deal more than she ever stared at him. Tsubaki saw that Rui would glance at Tsukushi whenever he knew that she wasn't looking and that he'd quickly turn away whenever Tsukushi moved her head in the slightest direction, even if it was away from him. Tsubaki grinned and thought of how cute their relationship was. Much cuter than the screaming argument Tsukasa had gotten into with Tsukushi this morning.  
  
Whenever she thought of that, she got into a headache. She still didn't see why Tsukasa persisted in pestering Tsukushi like he did, when it was so obvious to her and F2, who had teased him, that he liked Tsukushi. Of course, he remained oblivious to it. What was even more amazing was that Tsukushi didn't even seem to notice that Tsukasa liked her. She smiled and wondered what else this trip had in store for her. Obviously, Rui and Tsukasa both liked Tsukushi immensely, but which did she like?  
  
~  
  
When Tsubaki pulled onto the highway, she remembered this road only too well. It was one of her fondest and most irritating memories. That car ride to the amusement park had been miserable and enlightening at the same time. She'd seen the beginning of the playboy in Soujirou, the unusual way Tsukasa showed Tsukushi he liked her, and the odd communication method used between Tsukushi and Rui. She wondered what this car ride had in store for them this time. She could only hoped it'd be as memorable.  
  
Author's Note: Reviews are very necessary. I wrote this much quicker than I thought I would. Thanks guys for your support!  
  
Check out my newest HYD fanfic: SEASON OF FIREWORKS! & my original novel: SECRET, A TALE OF LOVE.  
  
If you like this fanfic, I'm sure that you'll like Season of Fireworks (the pairings are still uncertain). It incorporates the F4 in a new situation, modeled a bit after HYD/MG, but mostly taken the characters and inserted them into another setting.  
  
Watch out for the next chapter ---- NEW MEMORIES ---- 


	12. New Memories

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
12: New Memories (January 6, 2003 to January 9, 2003)  
  
It was amazingly clam so far. But as Tsubaki might have known, it wasn't going to last very long. When Shigeru turned her head around to introduce herself to Tsukasa and Rui, Tsukasa interrupted her in quite a rude manner, "Whatever, don't even bother, we're not interested." And he pointedly turned his face away from her, deliberately ignoring her. Even though he said he'd give it a chance, that didn't mean he had to start right away, did it?  
  
Usually, Tsukushi would leap to the underdog's defense because no one else would. But she didn't and that surprised Tsukasa, giving him hope. Maybe it was because she was jealous that Shigeru was his fiancé. What was that phrase again? Jealous makes the heart grown fonder!  
  
He grinned, but that was soon wiped off of his face because Shigeru's heavy purse came crashing down full force on his head. He winced and saw momentary stars before he was able to shake off the after affects of that momentous hit. When his hearing returned, he heard Tsukushi laughing. When his sight returned, he saw Rui smiling. Traitorous best friends!  
  
Even worse was his older sister, Tsubaki and his fiancé, Shigeru, who were both bawling so hard that tears were falling from their eyes. He felt embarrassed and irritated all because of that Shigeru! He lowered his eyes and lifted his hand and covered Shigeru's still laughing mouth. If he thought it was going to stop her, it didn't work. Shigeru bit him and he yelped and let go. This time he lifted up his hand to hit her only to be stopped by Tsukushi.  
  
"You can't hit a girl, Tsukasa," she reprimanded.  
  
"But she hit me!" he sputtered his protest, earning him an additional smack from his own sister. "Tsubaki, why did you hit me?!"  
  
"Because you deserved it!" she retorted her exclamation. "You were the one that decided to be rude first. If you don't apologize to Shigeru, I'm going to kick you out of the car!"  
  
"Why should I apologize!?"  
  
"I'm serious, Tsukasa!" To emphasize her words, she slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the emergency lane. "Apologize to her!"  
  
With everyone looking expectantly at him, he gulped and chocked out his rather insincere apology, "Sorry, Shigeru."  
  
She chuckled, knowing very well that he didn't mean a word of what he'd said. ""He doesn't mean what he says," she said bluntly, voicing out her previous thoughts. "But it's okay, I'll accept it. He'll just owe me one."  
  
"Why you little..." his words were taken form his mouth when Tsubaki abruptly accelerated the car, causing Tsukasa, who was leaning forward to be thrown backwards. "Are you trying to kill us?!"  
  
~  
  
Akira, who was driving the much calmer atmospheric car was thinking that he wished that he knew what was going on in the other car when Tsubaki pulled over to the emergency lane suddenly. He was about to swerve the car he was driving over to see what was wrong when Shizuka stopped him by resting her hand on his arm. "Nothing's wrong. Rui just messaged me. Shigeru and Tsukasa are arguing and Tsukasa is losing badly."  
  
"Awww," Soujirou responded, "what else can you expect? It's three girls vs. Tsukasa. That car is probably going to have a wreck before we get to the hot springs."  
  
Sara smiled. "Once we get to the hot springs, you've got to make me your tea, okay?"  
  
He glanced down at her and nodded. "Of course, I will. Green tea as always?"  
  
"You remembered!" she exclaimed happily.  
  
He chuckled. "You've never asked for anything that's different before. It's easy to remember!"  
  
She looked up at him solemnly. "It's still been ears though, Jirou."  
  
"That's true," he responded. "But I'm still the same. You're still the same, aren't you?" He could still remember memories from the far back in his childhood, the Sara at his side still resembled the girl in pigtails that he'd rushed home everyday to make tea with and play with.  
  
Sara nodded. "Yes, I'm the same Sara as before."  
  
"I've been meaning to ask you, how long are you staying here?" he questioned softly, the look in his eyes intensely concerned. He'd been thinking about this for a while, and her answer before had satisfied him then. But last night, he'd really been wondering again how long she was staying. He didn't want her to leave anytime soon.  
  
The answer depended on him, but she didn't know how to tell him that without being extremely embarrassed. For the last few years, all she'd wanted was to see him again, and now she was here, she wondered exactly what she wanted out of him. What was the purpose to see him again? Still, it was good to see him again. He was her dearest childhood friend. "For a while," she answered, "that's all I know."  
  
"You don't know?"  
  
She shook her head. "I don't know." It depended on him.  
  
~  
  
Every time he wanted to say something to Tsukushi, he'd turn to her and almost open his mouth, but then he'd remember that it was hardly a private moment. So he'd stop and turn his face back to stare out of the window again, trying to lose his thoughts of the loud, ongoing argument between Tsukasa, Shigeru, and Tsubaki. No matter how hard he tried to tune them out, he wasn't successful.  
  
In her own mind, Tsukushi also wanted to say something to Rui, but this was hardly the time nor the place. It wasn't private, it wasn't quite right. She snuck a sideways glance at him to catch him looking at her, so she quickly averted her gaze away from him. It plagued her mind, knowing he was staring at her, but it also relieved her. If he was looking at her, it meant he wasn't angry at her.  
  
Both of them were ripped away form their thoughts when Tsukasa shouted, "Rui, Tsukushi, you two have to help me! It's not fait that it's two against one! Me!"  
  
"I'm sure you can handle two girls," Tsukushi said in an amused voice. "I mean you are the great Doumyouji Tsukasa, are you not?"  
  
"I am," he responded in his typically arrogant tone, causing both Tsubaki and Shigeu to snort at that statement of power. "But these two aren't two normal girls!"  
  
Shigeru whirled around in her seat to glare at Tsukasa. "What do you mean by that?!"  
  
"Exactly what I said!" he retorted in exclamation. "That you're strange, weird, entirely not normal!"  
  
"Hey! You're not exactly great yourself, Doumyouji Tsukasa," Shigeru remarked in a mocking tone, which succeeded in making his face red. "I mean, look at yourself! You've got awful curly hair, a bad temper, a surly personality, an immature disposition, an intolerable---"  
  
"SHUT UP!" he screamed, his face a dark, crimson red.  
  
"You know," his sister added, "everything she said is true. You do have a horrible temper, a terrible personality, a childish---"  
  
"You're not helping!" he shouted. "And I'm NOT that bad!"  
  
"You are that bad!" Tsubaki and Shigeru exclaimed simultaneously, causing both of them to start laughing uncontrollably.  
  
Tsukasa growled but there was nothing he could do to make them stop. "You two are impossible!"  
  
That only made them laugh harder, which only caused his face to blotchy with the redness of his embarrassment. He finally gave up trying to quiet his sister and his fiancé. There was no way he was going to be able to make them stop their ruckus. So what was a guy to do? Instead, he leaned back to join Tsukushi and Rui in their companionable silence. That at least he could do without starting another riot.  
  
~  
  
Back in the much the more relaxed car, Akira finally had decided to ask Shizuka the big question that had been bugging him for quite a while. It was a good time to ask because Sara had fallen asleep on Soujirou's shoulder, and shortly after, his friend had followed the suit and accompanied her into slumber land. This was the only guaranteed private moment Akira could be sure of with Shizuka.  
  
"I've been meaning to ask you," he began in his trying to be nonchalant voice, "will you go out with me?" For the past few years, he'd suppose that they'd already been considered a couple, especially by Tsukasa and Soujirou. But Tsukushi had pointed out to him that he'd assumed that Shizuka was his girlfriend, but he'd never really asked her out officially.  
  
Shizuka had been trying to find out the full story from Rui what was going on in the other car, but Rui hadn't responded to her probing questions. She was getting a little frustrated with Rui and was thinking of what she'd have to message to him to get him to answer her when Akira had broken the silence with his inquiry. "What did you ask? I'm sorry I didn't hear what you were saying."  
  
He took a deep breath before he repeated his question. "Will you go out with me?"  
  
She blinked. "On a date?" she inquired back. She had no idea what he was asking her exactly. He knew if he wanted her to go somewhere with him, she would. He didn't have to ask her permission beforehand. however, if he was asking her to be his girlfriend, that was an entirely different matter altogether. She'd remembered what Rui had told her yesterday.  
  
"No," he answered in a serious voice, "I'm asking you to e my girlfriend. You know--- a serious relationship."  
  
She stared at him. "I--- I don't know what to say..."  
  
"Give me a chance?" he pleaded. "During this trip, give me a chance?"  
  
She nodded. "Why not?" she said lightly, but to get the cheery words out was harder than it sounded. It was well worth the effort when she saw the grin that came onto Akira's face. He was so good-looking when he smiled, she thought to herself.  
  
"Thank you," he replied in an almost sheepish voice. He felt like an idiot after he'd said that to her, but he was so relieved that she'd answered him so quickly that it'd just popped out.  
  
She continued to smile at him. "No problem, why wouldn't I give you a chance?" she teased him. Her cell phone then began to buzz, drawing her attention down to it. She clicked on a button that opened up the message and read the message from Rui. "I can't believe that he still hasn't told her yet!"  
  
"Eh?" Akira said in confusion. "Who are you talking about? Rui?"  
  
"Yes, Rui," she responded. "I forgot that you don't know yet. Well, Rui's determined to go after Tsukushi, but during the car ride he has yet to tell her that he doesn't want the engagement to be cancelled."  
  
"I thought that they had already worked things out..."  
  
"They hadn't," Shizuka responded. "It turns out that Tsukushi rejected Rui because of the insensitive comment that he said to her. It's actually a good thing for Rui that she did it. He needs to come out of his shell; he needs to fight for what he wants. And he sounded like he was going to move forward, but he still hasn't said anything..."  
  
Akira nodded. "But that won't be easy to get Rui to do that. I'm not surprise that he hasn't said anything yet. I mean I can understand where he's coming from," he responded. "It's not private in that car, that's why I had to wait for Soujirou and Sara to fall asleep before I said anything to you. Also, you have to remember that Tsukasa is in that car."  
  
Shizuka nodded, her annoyance at Rui fading away since his words made sense. "Rui's so indecisive and passive," she reflected aloud. "I'm afraid that he'll let the most precious thing to him slip from his fingers because he needs too much time to make up his mind to decide whether or not to act."  
  
It was the same fear that Akira had, that Shizuka would slip through his grasp.  
  
~  
  
It'd taken almost three hours, but if there was anything about Rui that was definite, he was definitely patient. It'd taken time, but Tsukasa had fallen asleep on Tsukushi's shoulder. Rui was also pretty certain that Shigeru was asleep in the front passenger seat. It was his perfect opportunity. It might be his only opportunity to communicate with Tsukushi without a mass of people surrounding them.  
  
He rested his hand over Tsukushi's, causing her to look at him with an inquiring eye. He turned her hand over so that his fingers rested on her palm. Moving his forefinger over her palm, he started writing in her palm what he wanted to say--- no what he needed to say to her. In a way this was better than speaking to her because he'd always found it easier to communicate by the hand than by the mouth.  
  
"Tsukushi, I know that I've already apologized to you. I know that I've already told you that I like you. I know that you know me better than anyone else, so you know that it's not easy for me to say things like this. But I don't want the engagement to be cancelled," Rui wrote clearly into her palm.  
  
As the words slowly formed into clear sentences what he was trying to say, she felt relieved that she wasn't the one that had to close the gap that she had caused because she'd basically rejected. She didn't really know what she was going to do to reserve what she'd said. She found Rui more steadfast in his quiet stubbornness than Tsukasa in his loud bullheadedness.  
  
"I hope you will change your mind," he continued to write into her palm. He was getting anxious that she still hadn't made a move to make an answer back to him.  
  
It took a minute, but she finally flipped his hand over and began writing. "I don't want the engagement to be cancelled either. I was overreacting because I was upset. I don't really want the engagement to be broken. I was upset and I acted with a clouded vision."  
  
"I'm glad," he scribbled back into her palm, "that you feel that way. I was afraid that you'd reject me again."  
  
She shook her head, though stunned how freely he was admitting all this to her. "It was a mistake. You know I'm prone to making mistakes and again you help to bail me out as always. I'd already made up my mind last night after talking to Tsubaki, but I didn't know how to approach you. I didn't know how you were going to react. No, that's not right, I was afraid that you wouldn't react at all."  
  
He rested his head on her shoulder, causing both of her shoulders to be occupied. "Even if this doesn't work out as we hope, we'll always be friends, right?"  
  
"Best friends." After that, she held his hand and he held her hand back. They continued to hold hands for several minutes, both of them staring at their entwined hands before Tsukushi closed her eyes. It wasn't long before he could tell that she'd fallen asleep because she instinctively slumped against him. So he lifted his head up from her shoulder and gently guided her head to rest upon his shoulder.  
  
It was an excellent opportunity for him to study her pretty, cute face. No, she wasn't gorgeous like Shizuka, but she was very pretty. And she did have beautiful eyes and utterly kissable lips. Lips that he was tempted to kiss right now, but now was not the right time. Not with Tsubaki looking at them through her rearview mirror. He knew she'd been spying on them for quite a while. He didn't mind too terribly, but he wasn't a showy person by nature.  
  
And he was too caught up with Tsukushi to really pay attention to Tsubaki. He was particularly caught up by the fact that since she was asleep, it gave him the chance to play with her cute, little hands. He was fascinated by how her hands could fits so easily within the palm of his own hand. It was so cute how short her fingers were and how ting her palm was. He didn't know how long he played with her hands when he heard a vague, faraway voice say, "I'm glad you two have worked things out."  
  
It was obviously Tsubaki talking to him. "Mmm," he murmured back a response that he had heard her. He was so close to falling asleep that that was the only real response that he could make to her before he truly fell under the somnambulistic spell. He hadn't really gotten that much sleep until the early hours of the morning because he'd been thinking of how to get Tsukushi back. Now that he had her, he could finally rest.  
  
~  
  
"How are things in your car?" she asked. She'd called Akira because they were nearly to the house she'd picked for their stay in the hot springs. "Everything okay?"  
  
"I should be asking you that," Akira responded. "So why did you pull the car over? All I heard from Shizuka was that Shigeru and Tsukasa were arguing and that Tsukasa was losing rather badly. And Shizuka heard that secondhand through cell messages from Rui."  
  
"Yeah," Tsubaki answered, "that was basically it. And my idiotic brother was definitely losing the battle and the war. He should know better than to mess with a girl that I'd chosen to be her fiancé!"  
  
Akira blinked, then slowly grinned. "I was wondering what that girl's relation was to you. So you're setting Tsukasa up? Poor Tsukasa."  
  
"Poor Tsukasa?" she said derisively. "More like poor Tsubaki. You haven't been stuck in a war with him for hours! Luckily, everyone is finally asleep in my car. Even better is that Tsukasa has been asleep for more than an hour. So is everyone awake in your car?"  
  
"No, everyone is asleep. Shizuka just fell asleep. Has Rui said anything to Tsukushi? Because Shizuka's been really curious about if Rui has told Tsukushi his feelings..."  
  
"He has said nothing," she told him with a hint of amusement that made him suspect that she wasn't telling him everything. He was about to ask when she continued, "But they're back together it seems. I got confirmation from Rui that they have worked things out between the two of them. Anyways, Tsukasa is sleeping on Tsukushi's shoulder and Tsukushi is sleeping on Rui's shoulder. It's quite an adorable scene, and it's only going to get cuter."  
  
The way she said it seemed like she had something in mind, which only made him smile. "You've got everything working out, haven't you, Tsubaki? You always have a plan, don't you? You're trying to set everyone together, aren't you?"  
  
She laughed. "You'll see. You'll see what I have planned for you guys. I'm sure you won't mind what I've got in mind at all, especially with the way you like Shizuka. We're almost here and road's tricky. Just follow okay?" She clicked the phone off before he even had the chance to make a response.  
  
Akira clicked off his cell phone and blushed as he glanced at the lovely sight that Shizuka made in her peaceful slumber. The sunlight reflected off of her brown locks making them appear as a visionary golden luster. It wasn't her beauty that drew him to her, though he had to admit it wasn't hard for him to admire her. It was the way she was that attracted him. He had so many hopes for them. He only hoped that things worked out during this trip and that they got closer, even closer. She meant the world to him.  
  
Author's Note: Thanks for your support. Chapters will be sporadic due to whether I feel "divinely" inspired by this "creative" gene within me that sometimes functions and sometimes decides to take a vacation for a while reason. Or I just get bored as was the case with my two fairly popular CCS fanfics. I can't compare the CCS fandom to HYD since HYD has a much smaller fandom base, but I'm still happy with the reviews I've been getting. So please review and tell me what you think! Maybe it'll inspire me to write faster/more!  
  
Check out my newest HYD fanfic: SEASON OF FIREWORKS! & my original novel: SECRET, A TALE OF LOVE. (it's about friendship and family as well, you guys should like this.) If you read, please review, it means A LOT to me.  
  
Watch out for the next chapter ---- ROOM MATTERS ---- (good sign if I've got the next chapter title ^-^;;) 


	13. Room Matters

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
13: Room Matters (January 10, 2003 to January 15, 2003)  
  
It'd taken longer than Tsubaki had expected, but they had finally arrived at one of the more private, though smaller houses that their family owned. She'd purposely picked it because it only had give rooms, which meant she got a room to herself and the others would have to double up. And she knew precisely how she wanted them to be paired up. It'd be perfect.  
  
"We're finally here," she announced exuberantly. She waited until everyone had situated themselves with their stuff before she made the great announcement, "Since there are only four rooms with king beds, I'll be splitting you into pairs." Everyone's eyes widened and before anyone could say anything, she continued, "Don't worry. I wouldn't think of doing any pairing that might be distasteful to you  
  
"That's why I've paired a boy with a girl. The pairings will be without further suspense: Rui and Tsukushi, Soujirou and Sara, Akira and Shizuka, and lastly, Tsukasa and Shigeru. There are four rooms in the right hallway, the two rooms to each side have a connecting door, by the way. I haven't selected the exact rooms, so I'll let you guys choose. I'll give you half an hour to get settled in your rooms before I give you the basic tour, okay?"  
  
Everyone looked at each other with stunned expressions on their faces. They still were frozen where they'd been standing because of the total shock she'd given to them in her announcement. By the time Tsukasa was able to fully have the words hit him, Tsubaki had already gone to her room to unpack. From her room, she called out to them, "You'd better go to your room and unpack!"  
  
"TSUBAKI!" he shouted. "I'm not going to room with THAT, THAT GIRL!"  
  
"YES, YOU WILL!" she yelled back in such a fashion of force that it knocked the numbness out of their limbs, especially when she repeated for the last time, "GO TO YOUR ROOMS and GET READY!"  
  
~  
  
Following after Rui, she could only smile when he chose the room at the end of the hallway with a beautiful overhead view of the idyllic beauty outside. When they entered into the room, the first thing Rui did was lie down on the bed and close his eyes. All she could do was smile at the gorgeous picture Rui made lying there withe his face illuminated by the sunlight that softly flowed into the room that rested on him.  
  
She started unpacking both of their bags when Rui spoke softly, "Lie down on the bed besides me, Tsukushi." She dropped the shirt she'd been about to put on the hangar and went to rest besides him. What she hadn't expected was for him to turn to face her and open his eyes to stare into her eyes. "It'll be like old times when we use to sleep together in the same bed. Do you remember those times?"  
  
She nodded. She did. "I do," she answered, watching as he re-closed his eyes, causing her to eventually to closer her own eyes. "I remember how you let me sleep with you in the bed when I stayed over because you knew that I disliked the guest bedroom."  
  
When she opened her eyes again, she knew that he was fast asleep like a newborn baby. He was still filled with that same innocence. As much as she wanted to join him in the sleep wonderland, she was too mesmerized by staring at him that she was able to close her eyes. It'd always been the same, even when he was little, she'd found herself gazing at his ethereal beauty.  
  
Eventually, she fell asleep and in their companionable slumber, they unwittingly moved closer until it was impossible to tell where one body ended and the other body began. Their limbs were entwined and covered by the rumpled sheets. The picture they made was pleasant, serene, and harmonic.  
  
~  
  
"So this is our room," remarked Sara as she survey their surroundings. "The view's really pretty. And the atmosphere is really light and cheerful. Don't you like our room? I like it."  
  
Soujirou placed his arms on her shoulders to make her stop pacing the length of the room, which was starting to make him dizzy. It wasn't a surprise to him that her nerves were showing, he was just a bit surprised that she was anxious since she should know that he'd never make her do anything that she didn't want to do. It was quite the opposite in his case. She was able to make him do things even if he didn't want to. It was her power, but he'd never been able to get her to do anything unless she wanted to.  
  
"It's okay," he said firmly. "Why are you nervous? If it's about the bed, sharing it, I can sleep on the floor it if really bothers you," he reassured her. "I don't mind if it'll make you more comfortable. You know I wouldn't make you do anything you don't want to."  
  
She forced a smile onto her face. "It's not that I don't want to sleep with you.." Her voice trailed off when she realized what she'd accidentally said without thought, making her cheeks turn crimson with her embarrassment.  
  
It brought a grin out of him and he bent his head down close to her and whispered, "As long as you don't mind, I won't." The tone of his voice was sensual, but the gleam in his eyes were joking, which she immediately saw when she looked up into his eyes.  
  
She shoved him away from her. "You're terrible! I was worried about how it'd sound and here you are making fun of me!"  
  
Grabbing her by the hands, he placed her arms on the curve of his back and wrapped his arms around her waist. He rested his face against her forehead and said softly while staring into her eyes, "I was just trying to make you less nervous, that's all. I'm sorry, forgive me? I wasn't trying to make fun of you. I just wanted to make you smile."  
  
She started giggling. "Then I get all the pillows."  
  
"What?"  
  
She looked at him with laughing eyes. "There are two pillows on the bed, I want both of them," she stated slowly and firmly. "Then, I'll forgive you."  
  
"You did that on purpose!" he accused. She couldn't hide the telling grin that came onto her face. "You little sneak!" he exclaimed, attacking her with his fingers to tickle her. "You did that act on purpose to get your way with me!"  
  
She giggled even harder, falling onto the bed, trying to avoid his fingers because he was making her laugh so hard that her sides were starting to hurt. "Stop," she pleaded weakly. "Mercy, please--- Jirou."  
  
"Never!" He only continued to tickle with even more energy than before. She actually didn't mind too much because of the joyful grin that was plastered on his face. If she could see that look on his face all the time, she'd be happy. Before too long, they were both breathless on the bed with him lying right next to her. "So you forgive me?"  
  
"Only if you smile like that more often," she remarked, turning to her side so that she faced him. "And if I get both pillows."  
  
"Insatiable creature," Soujirou muttered, but his eyes were dancing with amusement. "You know that you can wrap me around your finger, don't you?" She nodded, smiling. "You little minx," he murmured, leaning toward her so he was only a few centimeters away from her, "But I know how to make you listen to me."  
  
Her eyebrow lifted up in a challenge to him. "Oh really?"  
  
He chuckled. "Oh yes." Using his hand to cup her face, he captured her lips in a full and passionate kiss. He'd wanted to kiss her like this for the longest time, since he'd seen her again, he realized then in the middle of the kiss. The kiss was burning and fiery, then it shifted into a softer and gentler kiss. It became romantic, something that Soujirou tried to avoid at all costs with other women. But with Sara, it felt right.  
  
~  
  
Both Shizuka and Akira had followed Tsubaki's instructions to the tee and had unpacked all of their belongings. But since both had packed lightly and even going slowly, they still had a half hour left of the allotted time. So as they were looking at their neat and tidy room, Shizuka asked wryly, "So what do you want to do?"  
  
There were many thoughts going through Akira's mind of what he'd like to do. But of course, he wasn't about to tell her what he really wanted. It wasn't that it was bad, but he wanted to take things one step at a time. If he moved too quickly, she might run away like she'd done before when her modeling company had pushed her too far. Shizuka wasn't the type to be forced to do anything.  
  
From the intense look that was coming from his eyes, she had an idea of what was going on through his mind. It wasn't really a surprise for her, she was use to having guys look at her in that way. She was a little confused because there was also something a bit different about the look in his eyes, something more intense than just the usual glances men gave her.  
  
"Just be here with you," he murmured in a husky voice. He'd left out part of what he'd wanted to say. But what he'd said would do for now. He felt so good that they were here together that he didn't want to spoil it.  
  
Shizuka was more surprised than she showed by the slight widening of her eyes. "That's easy to do," she remarked. "Is there anything else you want or want to do?"  
  
He shook his head. "No."  
  
~  
  
Tsukasa was pacing in a U-shape around the king size bed in the middle of the room, while Shigeru just watched with an amused smile. She didn't know how long she'd been watching him before she remarked, "You know, if you're so anxious about Tsukushi, you could just go check up on them."  
  
That caught his full attention and he whirled toward her, "Who says I'm anxious? Whos ays I want to check up on her and Rui?"  
  
"No one," she answered, which appeased his budding anger, until she continued, "but anyone can tell what you want from the look on your face without you having said anything. I mean, I don't know why you were so shocked earlier when your sister put Rui and Tsukushi in the same room. I mean it wasn't like she was going to put you in room without me, your fiancé. Besides, your expression was priceless when she announced it. Your face was tomato red with your livid anger and your horrible jealousy. Quite a sight to see."  
  
By the time she'd finished what she was saying, Tsukasa was the same crimson color he'd been earlier. "You are so annoying!" But he charged out of his room and opened the door of Rui's and Tsukushi's room, where he was about to march in, but stopped as if he'd been suddenly paralyzed by a stun gun. Shigeru, who'd been following directly behind him, ran into his back.  
  
"What are you doing?" she inquired. Not knowing the reason why he'd stopped until she stepped to the side and saw for herself what he was staring at in disbelief. She understood why he was rooted where he stood. She was stunned too with the way their positions looked on the bed, very intimate and personal, though not sensual. Their bodies were curved toward each other and their limbs entangled together.  
  
He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Rui's leg was thrown over Tsukushi's form and their faces were so close together, like they'd fallen asleep mid kiss. He wanted to believe that Rui had taken advantage ot Tsukushi, but Tsukushi's arm was on Rui's shoulder casually. She wasn't trying to escape. And besides, he knew that Rui would never do that that.  
  
"You look quite jealous and envious," Shigeru commented, since she'd finished studying Rui's and Tsukushi's sleeping forms. Right at this moment, she was much more intrigued by the rampant of emotions that were visibly flashing through his face. "Don't try to deny it, it's written all over your face."  
  
The utter shock that had been on his face melted away as he growled at her. "Can't you ever be quiet?" he asked sharply with an irritated edge. "Why must you talk so much?"  
  
"If you're going to talk this loudly," she stated, "we should go outside because we really wouldn't want to disturb anyone." She really meant to say she didn't want to interrupt the adorable scene of Rui and Tsukushi.  
  
As much as he wanted to tear them away from each other, he knew he had no right to rip them apart. After all, Rui liked Tsukushi, and Tsukushi liked Rui. He sighed heavily and turned away from the room, heading back to his room. From the perfect picture they made sleeping together, they must have indeed made up what had temporarily broken them apart and given him hope. As much as he wanted to be in Rui's place, he wasn't the one Tsukushi liked.  
  
"Are you okay?" she inquired softly. She was getting concerned because the anger, the life in him had drained out, leaving him an empty shell of his former self. "Tsukasa?"  
  
Her worried tone reached his ear, and he grabbed her into his arms, holding her because he needed to hold someone. He needed someone that was there for him, she was the only one that was there. He held her, and gradually, he felt better as her arms wrapped around him instinctively. He no longer felt cold anymore. He held her for a long time before he let go and went back into his room. "Thank you," he murmured before he close the door in her face.  
  
Shigeru stared at the door, shock now written all over her face when she heard someone clapping softly in the background. When she turned her head, she saw that it was Tsubaki. "That went faster than I was expecting. I thought he wouldn't warm up to you until the end of the trip. But I knew he'd eventually would. This is going very good, isn't it?" Shigeru nodded. "Do you like him?" Shigeru smiled, no words were needed to interpret that smile.  
  
~  
  
At exactly an hour later, Tsubaki knocked loudly on each of the room's doors, discovering some very interesting situations she was sure to remember for a long time. It wasn't necessarily that the circumstances the couplers were in were bad. It was just they were in positions that were promising for further development of their relationship. Since it'd been her goal, she was quite pleased.  
  
The first room she ended up knocking on was Soujirou's and Sara's. When they immediately answered the door with crimson flushed cheeks, she had a good idea on what they'd been doing, especially with how swollen Sara's lips looked. She gave Soujirou a wink and gestured for them to get into the living room because it was almost time for the basic tour.  
  
The next room she started to knock on was Akira's and Shizuka's. They opened the door before she had the chance to knock on it. "Is it time?" Shizuka inquired. Tsubaki nodded. She would have been disappointed if she hadn't seen them holding hands as they walked out the door. She grinned at the sight because she knew Shizuka wasn't affectionate with anyone except Rui.  
  
The room after that one, she knocked on until she had to open it, and she was met with the delightful scene of Rui and Tsukushi lying together in each other's arms, sleeping peacefully. It was so adorable to see them sleeping together like two innocent children. She was pretty sure they hadn't done anything indecent. But Rui was unpredictable; however, Tsukushi was a prude in all the right sense. Then again, Tsukushi did feel deeply for Rui.  
  
Whatever they'd been doing, the scene was too cute to disturb, so she closed the door and went to Tsukasa's room, where she found her brother sprawled on his bed with a troubled expression. She sat down besides him and waved her hand over his face. "Don't you ever knock?" he asked sharply.  
  
She tilted her head to the side. "Since when have I ever had to knock on your door? Since when do you even care about propriety?" she joked lightly, trying to get that melancholic look off his face. "And stop having that tragic looking, it doesn't suit you at all. Anyways, it's time for the tour."  
  
He grumbled and complained, but he allowed her to drag him to the living room where Akira, Shizuka, Sara, Soujirou, and Shigeru were waiting, chatting amongst themselves. He was wondering where Rui and Tsukushi were when Soujirou asked for him, "Hey, where's Rui and Tsukushi?"  
  
"They're both sleeping," Tsubaki explained with a delight, "together! So I decided to let them sleep, while I showed you guys around."  
  
Soujirou seemed to be the only one terribly surprised by the announcement. Akira and Shizuka, both of whom were close to the pair, knew how they'd always slept together when they were children. The two of them had spent many of an afternoon talking together over the sleeping duo. And Sara didn't think it was strange, since she'd always thought those two would make a wonderful couple!  
  
"Well," Tsubaki remarked, "if no one has anymore questions, we might as well begin the tour so that you guys can enjoy the hot springs."  
  
Everyone followed her out with only Tsukasa lagging behind, starting down the hallway at the room where Tsukushi and Rui were still resting in. Shigeru had remained behind with him, and she reminded him softly, "It's time to go, Tsukasa." He still didn't budge. "If you don't go and Tsubaki finds out you're missing, she won't be happy."  
  
"Why do you care?" he inquired heavily.  
  
Shigeru grinned. "Because it'll be bad for everyone if Tsubaki gets upset. Besides, I think I've ragged on you enough today. I can't keep stomping on you, can I? That'd be cruel."  
  
His temper flared up. "What makes you think you've stomped on me?!"  
  
"WHERE'S TSUKASA?!" They heard Tsubaki shout from outside. They both exchanged an alarm look before they hustled at lightening speed toward Tsubaki's voice.  
  
~  
  
They're sleeping together again," Akira remarked as he saw the cute childish pair of Tsukushi and Rui dozing off. "Rui's really been a bad influence on her."  
  
Shizuka chuckled. "You can't make Rui do anything he doesn't want to do, so you either have to join him or watch what he's doing if you want to be around him like we're doing."  
  
Akira nodded. "Tsukushi's drooling on Rui," he commented, since there wasn't much commentating he could make on their slumber. "And Rui has his head on her chest..."  
  
He blushed and Shizuka giggled. "They're cute when they're sleeping."  
  
Shifting his gave from the bed to Shizuka, he saw how beautiful she was as a young girl and how beautiful she'd be when she grew up. It was written in every nuance of her features. He felt only when he was with her like this, that he saw her as her true self. When they were surrounded by other people, Shizuka was still cheerful, but composed and mature. She certainly didn't giggle. Such a pity, it was such a sweet sound.  
  
~  
  
"Mmmm," Tsukushi moaned as she stretched out, only to hit Rui in the face. "Oops!" she exclaimed. "Sorry!"  
  
He nodded and snuggled against her warm side, wrapping his arms around her waist. "S'okay," he replied before he started to lose him into his sleep heaven.  
  
It was as she lifted her eyes from the enchanting vision that she saw the clock. It read 4:00 pm. She swore they arrived here at 2:00, but she wasn't sure. She nudged Rui. "What time did we get here?"  
  
"1:30," he answered quickly, wanting to get back to sleep immediately.  
  
She started shaking him gently. "We've overslept." That didn't draw his attention. "It's 4:00!" That still didn't move him. She was running out of options. "Remember that we were suppose to meet Tsubaki an hour and a half ago, and you know how she gets... she must be so ticked off at us."  
  
That got Rui kind of up. He managed to lift his head off of her warm side. "I want to sleep more," he stated stubbornly.  
  
"If you got up, we can go to the hot springs and relax there," she mentioned in a tempting fashion. "And you know how much you like the hot springs. It'll be even warmer than the bed." He'd been about to place his head back down, but that statement got him thinking of the possibilities.  
  
"Will you be in the same spring as me?" he asked, yawning.  
  
She nodded, smiling as he got out of bed reluctantly. Rui could still be such a child.  
  
Author's Note: That Akira/Shizuka scene where they were watching Rui/Tsukushi sleep was a flashback, incase you didn't notice! Please keep reviewing! It means SO SO SO SO MUCH TO ME! You guys are the best!  
  
Check out my newest HYD fanfic: SEASON OF FIREWORKS! & my original novel: SECRET, A TALE OF LOVE. (it's about friendship and family as well, you guys should like this.) If you read, please review, it means A LOT to me.  
  
Watch out for the next chapter ---- BASIC TOUR ---- (subjected to be change, cuz that's like a general chapter that I'm not too fond of yet.) 


	14. Rising Atmosphere

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
14: Rising Atmosphere (January 16, 2003 to January 21, 2003)  
  
During the entire tour, Akira and Shizuka held hands. Though this was a very minor step in Akira's dating experience, it was a huge leap with Shizuka. Even though dozens of guys had chased after her like crazy, she'd never returned anything but affectionate friendship. Holding hands with her was the first step of a many step progressing process to make her his.  
  
The tour actually hadn't taken long enough in Akira's opinion because before long they were heading back to the main house to collect the necessary possessions needed to take a dip into the hot springs. The only delightful prospect was that Tsubaki had also specifically chosen this spot for the give rooms and the five private hot springs made for couples!  
  
The only drawback to the privacy was that a wall separated the hot spring into a boy side and a girl side. What was even worse was that Tsubaki suggested as they were walking back to the hot springs she'd shown them earlier, "How about we go as a group to the larger hot spring?"  
  
The girls wholeheartedly agreed, excited to catch up between themselves. Tsukasa looked relieved that he didn't have to be alone with Shigeru yet, especially after that embarrassing episode when he'd grabbed her and held her like that. She must think that he liked her! What an awful thought! However, Shigeru and Akira both exchanged a disappointed look between the two of them. They wanted to be alone with their respective partners. Both barely managed to stifle their signs of disappointment.  
  
"WAIT!" cried out Tsukushi, who was running up the steep stairs. "Are you guys going to the hot springs?" The group nodded. "Please wait for us!" So the group stopped their descent up and waited for Rui and Tsukushi to join them on the second tier of stairs that led to the hot springs. "We're so sorry for missing the tour!" she exclaimed breathlessly and apologetically. "We overslept!"  
  
Tsubaki grinned and waved her hand in a 'it's okay' manner. "I let you two oversleep. You guys looked far too cute to disturb." Tsukushi blushed, while Rui had an indifferent expression. "So are two going to join the group in the hot spring?"  
  
Tsukushi was about to answer, but Rui spoke first, "We want to go to a private hot spring."  
  
She was sure that he saw the jaws that dropped all around them from what his words sounded like. But as was typical for Rui, he ignored his atmosphere. "Umm," she mumbled, wanting to say something that'd make the words not suggest what the rest obviously seemed to think. They all had such dirty minds!  
  
"Tsubaki, can you give us the general directions?" Rui requested politely. All Tsubaki could do was point to the path that led to the private hot springs, though inside she was jumping up and down ecstatically with excitement at the further progression. Rui was making a move, that was more than she could say about Tsukasa and Shigeru though! "Let's go, Tsukushi," he urged, taking her hand and tugging.  
  
The rest of the group watched with stunned features as Rui pulled Tsukushi with him up the path. Tsukasa wished he was in Rui's place; Shigeru hoped Tsukasa wasn't going to get melancholic again; Soujirou couldn't believe Rui was moving faster than he was; Sara thought it was entirely too cute; Akira wanted to be the one going to the private hot spring; and, Shizuka was delighted that Rui and Tsukushi were patching things up. Tsubaki grinned. Everything was going perfectly to plan, even better than she'd planned.  
  
~  
  
When Tsukushi discovered that there was a boy side and a girl side, she wanted to make use of the separation situation that they provided, but Rui shook his head. "Why not?"  
  
Very pointed he stated, "You fainted the last time you were in a hot spring. And if you're on the other side, how am I suppose to save you?"  
  
"Fine," she muttered because she did feel light-headed when she was overheated, "but we're definitely wearing swimming suits then."  
  
There was a keen disappointment in his eyes at her terms. "There isn't a changing room," he declared, surveying the area around the quite divine looking hot spring. "Besides, it'll take too long to go back down and up."  
  
A horrified expression was on her face. "Then you can go, and I'll sit here and wait for you," she said amicably instead. "How about that? Isn't that a good idea?" He shook his head, it was not. "Why not?"  
  
"Because," he enunciated carefully, "you promised to go to the hot springs with me if I woke up. You aren't going to break your promise are you?"  
  
He was using those pleading eyes on him. Whoever said Rui was innocent hadn't seen the manipulative side to Rui, the part of himself he used to get her to do what he wanted when she didn't want to and he did. This was a perfect example of it. She sighed. Those pleading eyes, she wasn't up to denying him. Besides, she had promised him.  
  
"I did promise you," she remarked, turning a distinctively crimson color as she said this. "But you have to close your eyes!" She was thankful that the water was murky, which meant as soon as you got in, he wouldn't be able to see much of anything.  
  
Flashing her one of his heart melting grins, he, being the strange and unpredictable boy that he was--- had absolutely no qualms about undressing in front of her! When she realized what he was doing, she closed her eyes quickly, horrified at his lack of modesty. She heard him chuckle, which only made her blush even harder.  
  
"I'm done and it's safe," he told her. "Are you going to come in or not?"  
  
She opened her eyes and true to his words, he was quite safely in the murky water, which still didn't disguise his slender, yes muscularly toned body. "Yes, but you have to close your eyes."  
  
"I've already seen you naked," Rui remarked in a matter of fact voice. "Besides when we get married, we're going to have to see each other naked. Maybe even sooner than that, " he murmured wistfully.  
  
She threw her towel at him and told him to close his eyes, which he reluctantly did as she beckoned. Even with his eyes closed, she wasn't sure he wouldn't peak so she told him to turn around, which he did without any further protest. From the look he'd given her at that request, she knew he was humoring her.  
  
She slipped into the hot springs eventually and went to precisely the opposite spot before she declared, "You can turn around and open your eyes."  
  
The first thing he said when he saw her over there was, "Are you going to stay there the entire time?"  
  
"YES!" she exclaimed. "You are being such--- such a boy!"  
  
He chuckled, which only made her glare at him. "Yes," he replied, "because I am a boy, very much a boy."  
  
It was then that she noticed that his eyes weren't clouded over with sleepiness as they normally were but with passion and desire... for her. It made her heart skip a beat, the gaze he had made her feel unbelievably hot. She was certain that her whole body was blushing, right down to her toes.  
  
"Rui..." she whispered softly.  
  
He closed his eyes and said huskily, "Tsukushi, will you come to me?"  
  
~  
  
Tsukasa was entirely annoyed with Tsubaki for allowing Rui and Tsukushi to go to a private hot spring by themselves. There was no telling what they might do! It wasn't that Rui would force her that he was worried about. He was worried about what Rui could get Tsukushi to do with her free will and her full consent!  
  
To make things worse, Akira and Soujirou were moping on the boy's side of the hot springs because they hadn't been able to go to a private hot spring. Tsukasa could only imagine why they wanted to go and that only made him think more of what Rui and Tsukushi could be doing privately. IT MADE HIM SO JEALOUS!  
  
What made it even worse was that he couldn't do anything about it either because he was stuck here and they were far from him. He knew better than to try and leave because that'd only make his sister mad at him again, something he sincerely wished to avoid. After all, if his sister got upset at him, he could only imagine what torture she'd put him through. That made up his mind. He'd just have to bear it.  
  
On the girl's side of the hot springs, they laughed and giggled as they conversed together. "I'm so glad Rui and Tsukushi made up," Shizuka remarked. "I was afraid that Rui'd never make a move and he'd lose the most important thing to him. Tsukushi is stubborn, he should know that. But she's also a girl, she can't go chasing after a guy when it was the guy's fault. Besides, she needs prodding to be able to see."  
  
Tsubaki nodded. "Quite right. She finally realized her mistake last night, but I was afraid that they wouldn't make up until at least the end of the trip. It happened far faster than I was expecting it to. Surprisingly, Rui made his move quickly."  
  
"Good thing to," Shizuka replied. "I was worried about how they'd get back together. Now, I don't have to worry and they have the perfect opportunity to be alone with each other."  
  
Shizuka and Tsubaki shared a triumphant smile while Sara asked, "How long have those two been dating?"  
  
Their shared smile turned into a full blown grin. "They haven't really been dating. Their parents kind of arranged and put them together with good reason. If things were left up to them, they'd take forever to do anything. This is definitely a great arrangement," Tsubaki remarked.  
  
"From the way those two act together, they really seem like they've been dating for a long time," Sara commented. "To tell me they just started dating is unbelievable."  
  
Shizuka nodded. "They should have been dating years ago. But both of them are far too slow at doing anything. This trip of Tsubaki's was a stroke of brilliance."  
  
"It was, wasn't it? For all of us," Sara said abruptly, blushing immediately after she said it.  
  
Tsubaki grinned. "The intentions of this trip is to get all, ALL the couples together." She shot a meaningful look at Shizuka. "It's not only an opportunity for Rui and Tsukushi."  
  
~  
  
His voice was soft and alluring, tempting. She wanted to go to him, but at the same time, she was scared of what would happen if she went. She could only stare at the calm beauty visible on his face, feeling guilty that she couldn't do his one small request. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I can't."  
  
He opened the doorways to his soul, no anger or reproach in them, only a keen disappointment. "It's okay," he stated softly. He held his hand to her. "Will you take my hand?"  
  
She took his hand. She expected him to pull her to him. But she forgot that was something that Tsukasa would do but never Rui. Rui used his words, Tsukasa used his strength. They were two far different people, yet close friends. Instead, all Rui did was hold her hand, rubbing her knuckles gently. Time seemed eternal in this tender and soothing moment, passing by so quickly that all seemed lost, yet not.  
  
The entire time was spent holding hands, staring into each other's eyes. Most of the time they did not speak, but when they did--- it didn't spoil the moment. "When did you start liking me?"  
  
"A long time ago."  
  
"It's the same with me," she remarked. "Is it weird for me to like you the first time that I saw you?" He shrugged. "And the more that I got to know you the more that I liked you, even despite your oddities."  
  
He broke out into a smile. "Is it weird for me to like you because you were the first one to bring me out of my shell?"  
  
She shook her head. "No."  
  
He squeezed her hand. "Good."  
  
~  
  
Typical Rui. She smiled as she saw him hanging upside down from the monkey bars as was normal for him. He was forever doing that, even now that he was much older as was she. They were no longer in elementary school anymore, yet he still did it. That was part of his childhood, yes, and it was also an integral part of him.  
  
"Why do you always hang upside down?" she asked. He didn't open his eyes and he didn't answer her. "Why do you never answer anything I ask you?" He opened his eyes. "Why do you hang upside down?" she repeated, thinking that he hadn't heard her.  
  
"I heard you the first time," he replied bluntly, closing his eyes again.  
  
She took a deep breath, trying to be patient. But she was losing it as she tended to do when she was frustrated to the point she couldn't take it anymore. It wasn't that she'd ask that particular question before, it'd been many others before that were unanswered. "If you don't answer soon, I have to go," she told him.  
  
And so she sad down and waited for about half an hour, the longest she could drag it on. Faintly, she heard her driver calling for her. She gathered her books. "I've got to go, Rui. Bye."  
  
He opened his eyes and got off the monkey bars, calling out to her, "Tsukushi, will you be back tomorrow?"  
  
She stopped, turned around, and nodded. "Yes." Then she whirled around and continued to walk away.  
  
"Tsukushi," he said again and she stopped as he knew she would, "I'll tell you tomorrow."  
  
That made her smile, and she skipped off, happy again. As he watched her skipped off, he too smiled. Yes, she was the one he could trust in.  
  
~  
  
Luckily after about an hour of soaking, the girls decided that that was enough of that. The bad thing was that they'd entirely forgotten about Tsukushi and Rui, but there was someone who definitely hadn't forgotten. "What about Rui and Tsukushi?!" Tsukasa cried out.  
  
Tsubaki grinned. "I'll get them." Tsukasa scowled. "You have to escort Shigeru back," she reminded him, pushing Shigeru to him. She waved before setting out to climb the steep steps to the more private hot springs. She had to say, it was hard and exhausting to climb, especially when she hadn't found them at the first hot spring. She found them on the hot spring on the next level.  
  
What she saw was well worth the effort to climb those many many stairs. Her eyes popped open when she saw them holding hands, Rui leaning toward Tsukushi as she was leaning forward to kiss them--- they were so close to kissing. From what she could discern, they both seemed to be nude in the water. Interesting. A very good thing she'd come instead of her brother. She could only imagine how he'd react.  
  
Inside of her mind, she was mentally cheering them on. But in her fervent desire to see them kiss, she got to close and Rui saw her, thus pulling away from Tsukushi. "What, Rui?" asked Tsukushi.  
  
"Tsubaki's here," he stated in a calm voice, the passion totally fading from him. As was typical for Tsukushi, she blushed and when she turned around, her face was a crimson red.  
  
Tsubaki had the grace to look sheepish because after all she had been spying on them. After all, what else could she be doing crouching behind a bush with her head peaking over? Definitely spying. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to intrude. I just wanted to tell you that we've all headed back for dinner. Do you two want to join us?"  
  
"Of course," Tsukushi responded with a kind smile, "we'll be there in a few minutes."  
  
Tsubaki smiled and waved before descending down the winding stairs down to the house. After she was gone, Tsukushi turned around and told Rui, "Close your eyes and turn your back to me."  
  
He broke out into an amused smile, but he did what she requested. "Tsukushi?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I won't push you."  
  
~  
  
In his room, Tsukasa was again pacing up and down the length of his room while Shigeru watched with amusement. "You know, your wasting your energy. If you're going to mope around like that, you should plan on how to win her back instead."  
  
He whirled around. "Why are you trying to help me?" he growled out. "Isn't it better for you if I can't get her, if I pace here up and down with my misery?"  
  
Shaking her head, she explained why, "I don't want a guy that doesn't like me most. So if you like Tsukushi, I'll help you. I like her, too. If she chooses you freely, then I'll be happy for both of you. We can just be friends, that's fine with me."  
  
"Really?" he queried, can't believing what she was saying.  
  
She took his hand and held it tightly. "Truly."  
  
~  
  
Once Soujirou and Sara were along again, they sat on opposite sides of the bed, not knowing what to say to each other after the change of their relationship that had happened earlier. During the entire time they were at the hot springs, all he wanted was to be alone with her. Now, that he was alone with her, he was afraid. He was a one week guy in relationships, and he knew she wasn't a one week type of girl.  
  
He was terribly afraid. She had been his dearest childhood friend. He didn't want to lose her as a friend, and yet maybe she was the one? He was the only one of the F4 that wasn't serious about a girl. Akira was absolutely crazy about Shizuka; likewise, Rui and Tsukasa were about Tsukushi. He was the only one without, maybe it was Sara who was the one he'd been waiting for.  
  
All the F3 liked childhood friends, maybe he was the same, and Sara had kissed him back, hadn't she? Or had he simply been holding her too tightly and it made it seem like she was kissing him back? Then again what if--- what if their relationship didn't work out and she ended up disliking him, hating him like his other x-girlfriends? That he couldn't take a chance on.  
  
"Jirou, is something wrong?" Sara asked with concern echoing in her voice.  
  
He shook his head and grinned. "Nothing's wrong."  
  
~  
  
Standing by the fading evening sunlight, Shizuka was looking gorgeous as she normally was. But no matter if she was less than her usual beautiful self, he'd still be captivated by her, still enamored with her because he was in love with her. He didn't know how long, but it'd been for quite a bit of time that he'd felt this way. He'd tell her one day, but not today.  
  
She glanced back at him. "Will you watch the sunset with me tonight?"  
  
He nodded. "Yes."  
  
~  
  
They'd been thinking over the past half hour of how Tsukasa might win TSukushi in an honest manner over Rui. Over that time, they still hadn't come up with a good plan of action yet. Eventually, Tsukasa got impatient and exclaimed, "I can't think of anyway to win her! Rui understands her better than me! Rui never argues with her! Rui always listens to what she has to say! I can't compete with him!"  
  
"Of course, you can't," Shigeru remarked, which made him scowl. But before he could protest, she continued, "You can't compete with Rui by trying to be a better Rui. You can only compete with Rui for Tsukushi by being yourself, Doumyouji Tsukasa. Because you aren't Rui, you are Tsukasa."  
  
"But..."  
  
"But nothing. If you can't charm her by being yourself then there's nothing else you can do," Shigeru murmured. "By yourself, Tsukasa, don't you want to get her by your own self?" He nodded. "Because that's your best chance, I believe."  
  
~  
  
Outside of the rooms, Tsubaki grinned. What lovely surprises she had planned for them. She ought to pat herself on the back and do this full time. It was just perfect! It was just too ingenious! Oh, what a mastermind she was!  
  
Author's Note: What does Tsubaki have in stored for them? (something extremely clever that I still have to think of!) Wow, is the story coming to an end? Do you guys want me to wrap this up soon? Because I could be as far at 75% done for as little as 33% done (which is DAMN scary). There are quite a few twists I could do, my problem is that my interests in it is bound to die sometime soon. And I would like to finish it. If you keep reviewing and generally commenting on what you like and what you don't like that'd be great. It's nice when you tell me that you like it and that you want me to continue, but you could you tell me more than that? Comments on why you like it, which pairings you especially like, which is the most creative, which is the most weird, which you like the least is how I can make this fanfic better! 


	15. Special Moments

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
~ * indicates the scene below is a flashback.  
  
15: Special Moments (January 22, 2003 to January 28, 2003)  
  
She clapped her hands together as she placed the name cards exactly where she wanted them. On the right side, it was: Tsukasa, Soujirou, Akira, and then Rui. On the left side, it was: Shigeru, Sara, Shizuka, and then Tsukushi. Of course at the head of the table, she, Doumyouji Tsubaki, would sit.  
  
She had purposely placed them across from each other. In a book she had read and from her own observations, couples kept apart when they wanted to be close together often were jolted to making a move. Her only concern was for Tsukasa and Shigeru, who she'd watch like a hawk, easy to do since she was sitting right there with them. Maybe they didn't realize how good they were together.  
  
Well by the end of the night, if they didn't realize it, they must be blind, deaf, and dumb. That she couldn't help but that didn't mean she wouldn't stop trying to get them two together. She hadn't been sure at first if they suited each other. But watching them during the tour and afterwards, their bickering was quite cute, like flirting, not true arguing.  
  
The dinner was phase one. That was only the beginning.  
  
~  
  
The four couples gathered into the dining room, stunned by what they saw displayed on the formal dining table. The setting was as elaborate as one would expect from a true dinner party, but the setup was exquisite and charming with its elegant simplicity. What was interesting were the expressions that came onto everyone's faces when they realized there was an arranged seating that segregated the girls to one side and the boys to another.  
  
Tsubaki saw Tsukasa exchange an understanding look with Shigeru that caught her full attention. Interesting, but good. Very good, if indeed they were getting closer. There was nothing that Tsubaki wanted than to have her brother having a loving and a happy marriage. That would truly make her day.  
  
Seeing Tsukushi and Rui off to the side with their soft conversation also made her smile. Tsukushi was like a little sister to her. Those two being happy and together also would make her day even better. As much as she'd like to see Tsukasa and Tsukushi together, they just didn't match together as a couple. They fought like siblings, not lovers.  
  
Overall, Tsubaki thought the dinner went extremely well. During the entire meal, the couples talked amicably with each other and with the ones sitting next to them. What really delighted her was the tension that was in the air, which was what she wanted most out of the dinner. The only thing that was weird and that she couldn't place her finger on was why Tsukasa and Shigeru kept trying to communicate with hinting looks, secret code? What was up with them?  
  
"Dinner's over," Tsubaki declared. She saw a sigh of relief on everyone's face. Great sign. "Now, I've special activities for each of you pairs!"  
  
Akira exchanged a look with Shizuka that was far from pleased, it was actually quite strained. Before Tsubaki could say anything, he quickly went around the table and grabbed Shizuka's hand and dragged her to the porch. "Tsubaki, I promised Shizuka that I'd watch the sunset with her. It's almost time. Sorry for spoiling any plans that you've made."  
  
"That's exactly what I had in mind!" Tsubaki exclaimed eagerly. She gave them a shooing gesture. "Go, go then! It really is almost time! You definitely don't want to miss it!"  
  
A smiling Akira took Shizuka out to the porch. Once they were gone, Tsubaki turned her attention back to the rest of the people in the room. "Soujirou and Sara, I've planned for you two to have a private tea ceremony in one of the teahouses nearby. You can be served or do the serving."  
  
Sara clapped her hands with delight. "That's a wonderful way to spend the rest of the evening! That's exactly what I wanted to do! And of course, Jirou will be serving. I haven't had his tea in forever. I've missed it so."  
  
Soujirou smiled at Tsubaki and silently thanked her with his eyes for making Sara so happy. Holding his hand out to her, he urged softly, "Let's go Sara?" She took his hand and her smile widened, then she let him drag her outside where a limo was waiting to take them to the teahouse.  
  
Once those two had departed, Tsubaki turned back and had a positively pleasure filled grin plastered on her face. "Tsukasa, my charming younger brother, and Shigeru, his love and equally charming, if not more so, fiancé. You two will have a special treat. There's a limo waiting outside to take you two to a massage specially for couples!" She beamed at them.  
  
Tsukasa and Shigeru looked at each other and Tsukasa took Shigeru's hand without protest, much to Tsubaki's delight and led her to the limo that was waiting outside. Tsubaki watched them until they'd disappeared before she turned her attention back to Rui and Tsukushi. "I don't have anything planned for you two." She gazed carefully at Rui. "I'm sure you two can think of something to do."  
  
Rui nodded and reached to hold Tsukushi's hand. "We can definitely think of something to do." Tsukushi blushed and hid behind Rui's back like a sheepish, embarrassed child.  
  
Tsubaki watched with a smile as Rui led Tsukushi away. "Perfect! Everything's working out perfectly! Now, all I can hope for is that everyone makes use of the opportunity that I've given them!"  
  
~  
  
A half hour later, Tsukasa and Shigeru were on their stomachs being treated to a full body massage by two masseuse therapists. Being a girl that enjoyed being pampered, Shigeru was quite enthused about the first rate massages they were getting. It was pretty amazing how Tsubaki had arranged these, but she knew Tsubaki was incredible. It was the only reason she'd agreed to the arrangement.  
  
"So what should I do?" Tsukasa asked. "I mean, I k now that you said I should be myself, but what do I do to show her myself? And I feel bad to try to steal her away from Rui. They are engaged."  
  
Shigeru turned her head so that she faced him. "You know if you think like that then you aren't acting like the Tsukasa that Tsubaki told me you were. She said that you went after what you wanted. I mean I understand that trying to steal a friend's fiancé is bad, but she's not married yet. Besides, you're not doing anything devious to try to just be there for her, are you? All your doing is being yourself and if she falls for you, that's fate then."  
  
Tsukasa turned his face so that they were now staring at one another. "You are weird," he stated. "I don't understand why you're helping me, even though you explained earlier. But, Shigeru, thank you."  
  
Shigeru smiled at him and he thought that she was quite pretty when she smiled. "You're welcome. We don't have to pretend to act like a couple, but I wouldn't mind being friends with you, Tsukasa."  
  
Tsukasa smiled back. "You know you look pretty when you smile." He blushed after he let that compliment slip out of his mouth. "And I would like to be friends with you, too," he finished lamely with much embarrassment.  
  
"You look like a smiling pineapple when you smile," she commented wryly.  
  
"Hey!" he exclaimed. "I was being nice to you!"  
  
She chuckled. "You were being honest," she corrected, "and I was being honest, too."  
  
"How do you know I was being honest?" he challenged. "How do you know I wasn't just being nice and trying to flatter you?"  
  
"Flatter me?" Shigeru said in an incredulous voice. "Yeah, right! The look on your face gave it totally away. You looked embarrassed after you said it because you didn't mean to compliment me and besides, you don't lie well. You fidget when you lie and your eyes drift to the roof. But when you say something you don't mean to, you blush quite cutely. Don't even bother to deny it, Tsubaki and Tsukushi told me everything about you."  
  
He had the courtesy to blush after she finished what was very true about him. "You are so impossible!"  
  
"And you want to be friends with me!" she exclaimed triumphantly.  
  
"I was trying to be nice!" he shouted back.  
  
"LIAR!"  
  
~  
  
"Your tea is wonderful," Sara commented, taking another sip of it, "like it always is. I think that's the reason why I missed you so much," she teased. "Your delicious tea was definitely a factor in me wanting to come back here. Drinking it only reminds me more of that factor."  
  
Finishing the tea ceremony, Soujirou rested his head on the cushion and sprawled his body across the wooden floor. It never failed to make him believe in Tsubaki's awesome, almost supernatural powers when she found a treasure tea place such as this in the remote mountains. The outfits were genuine and the rooms were nearly perfect replicas of the old traditional tea rooms. It was quite a great find.  
  
He glanced up at Sara and smiled at her. "What were the other reasons you came back?" he inquired with a flirtatious tone. "I mean, I'm sure you can get tea anywhere you want."  
  
She nodded, sipping at the tea one last time. "But not tea made by the hands of a tea master like you." She blushed and hid her face with her hands. "And the other reason I came back was because of..."  
  
His ears, finely tuned, didn't miss her last whispered, trailed off phrase. He lifted his eyebrow up in inquiry and waited for her to continue, but she was too busy trying to cover her beaming blush to notice the question on his face. "So what was the other reason for coming back?" he repeated. "I already know one is because you missed me and the other because of my tea skills, so what is the third one?"  
  
Her hands dropped from her face, staring down at the handsomest boy that she knew, she wanted so badly to tell him. His face was exactly how she remembered it being. Not like, she'd forget the beautiful arch of his eyebrows, the humor lurking in his eyes, and the smile that always graced his quite kissable lips. Lips that she'd already kissed. The thought made her blush only more.  
  
She wanted so badly to tell him how she felt about him, but even with the kisses they had shared earlier, she was still wary about confessing. What if he'd only kissed her because she'd been there? She had kept up a steady correspondence with Tsukushi and had learned that her Jirou had turned into quite a playboy as he'd gotten older. In truth, she wasn't surprised that he had, when they'd been children, he'd always been surrounded by the girls.  
  
Yet, yet if she didn't tell him her feelings, then all would be lost. As her eyes met his and her blush faded as a new blush began, she made up her mind. "Yes, there is a third reason that I will tell you of later, okay?"  
  
Curiosity had always been strong with him, but he could tell that she was nervous about telling him whatever it was so he'd let it pass. After all, she'd promised to tell him later. "Okay," he answered with a smile, "later."  
  
~  
  
In the room they shared, Rui was again lying on the bed with his eyes closed, seemingly to have drifted off to sleep. Tsukushi smiled and bent over Rui to gaze at the lovely perfection of his face. It didn't matter how much time went by, how long they'd known each other, she could still look at him forever.  
  
"You said that we could definitely think of something to do, so is this what you had in mind?" she asked.  
  
His eyes opened and his arms reached around her, pulling her into the bed with him. Rolling over so that he was on top of her, he gazed down at her with a sweet smile. "No, sleeping isn't what I had in mind." Her eyes widened with shock and nerves. Before the illicit thoughts could flood her mind with less than pure thoughts, he did something totally unexpected. Pulling her arms around him before placing his head on her shoulder, he requested without asking, "Hold me."  
  
She'd been expecting something else to happen like one of those random kisses he'd bestowed her when the urge came upon him. But this was different, thought it wasn't unlike Rui. It was very much like him. Still, she'd kind of been hoping for him to kiss her. She blushed hotly. Whenever he kissed her, she felt like she was floating on a second sphere of being.  
  
~ *  
  
Her parents had argued again like they'd always argued about money. Not that it was in short supply, but nonetheless, they relentless argued over how to manage it. It drove her nuts how well her parents her parents got along sometimes and how horribly they got along other times. It was enough to drive a saint mad, much less her since she was certainly not a saint.  
  
And of course, Rui, when he arrived at school, late as always, knew immediately that she wasn't in a good mood. He had the uncanny ability to read her emotions better than anyone else. In most instances, it was a good thing; however, at other times, it was hardly a good thing. There was nothing she could keep from him. Sometimes, she wished that he wasn't able to read her as well as he did.  
  
Sitting down next to her, he stared at her. She knew he was waiting for her to tell him what was wrong with her. Eventually, she'd probably tell him, but she didn't want to tell him right now. She wasn't in the mood to be comforted. She wanted to stew in her misery a little while longer. If she gave into his reassuring comfort, she'd feel better in a little while, but when would she learn to depend on herself when he wasn't there for her anymore? It was a scary thought, but something that would undoubtedly come in the future.  
  
"Something's wrong," Rui stated. He knew she was trying to avoid telling him what was wrong, but he didn't understand why she went through more pain than she had to. Wasn't he there to comfort her? Why didn't she let him then? He wanted to ask her, but he was sure that she'd tell him eventually.  
  
Until then, he'd take her mind off whatever was plaguing her mind. He couldn't help it. He simply couldn't resist how precious she looked, how tempting she became when she needed him but wouldn't admit it. "Tsukushi," he said softly, causing her to look toward him, giving him the perfect opportunity.  
  
Tilting her head up by using his hand, he bent his head quickly down to capture her lips in a gentle, sweet kiss. With aching tenderness, he coaxed her to open her lips and let his tongue tease against hers. Almost grinning because of her shyness, he withdrew slowly form her. He did indeed smile when he saw the flush of delight on her cheeks. She looked far too cute, even for her. "Adorable," he commented, brushing a kiss against her lips. "Like always."  
  
~  
  
I wasn't long before Tsukushi feel asleep and Rui opened his eyes to stare at how lovely she looked against his chest. Between the time he'd asked her to hold him and the time that she had fallen asleep, they'd switched positions, so that he was holding her instead of the other way around. This wasn't what he'd exactly wanted, not that he minded. He felt like her protector when he held her like this, something that he wanted to be.  
  
Ever since they were little, she'd always tried not to lean on him too much because she felt weak whenever she did. He knew that she struggled against using him as her support, even then. As they had grown older, that inclination of hers had only grown stronger, despite the fact that she did need him! He knew she did, why couldn't she see that and let him take care of her?  
  
He didn't mind. Though, he knew his Tsukushi wanted to be independent and strong and certainly hard-headed, he also knew that she needed someone to lean on occasionally, even if she didn't realize it. As much as she admired Shizuka, he hoped so much, he hoped so hard that she didn't follow Shizuka's footsteps. He couldn't bear to lose both of them.  
  
Tightening his hold on her because he didn't want to lose her. As much as she might need him, he feared that maybe he needed her even more than she needed him. Yes, she depended on him, but if she didn't have him, he knew she would push on and survive. But if he didn't have her, what would he do?  
  
Looking down at the most important thing in his life, he now understood what Shizuka had been trying to get him to do all along. He'd been afraid if things changed, that he'd lose her. But if things didn't change, that would only make it easier for her to leave him. Now, he hoped and he wished and he desired nothing more than for things to change in a way that would forever keep her by his side.  
  
~  
  
The sunset had gone and past a long while ago, but they still stood against the railing, watching the darkness of the night settle into its rightful place. But Akira was staring far more intently at Shizuka than he was staring at the lovely scenery. For in his eyes, Shizuka was the loveliest thing that he'd ever beheld. He didn't think that his feelings about that would ever change.  
  
Shizuka turned towards him and wasn't surprised that Akira was gazing at her with his emotions in his eyes. It'd been wrong to give him hope, she decided. But she'd wanted him to be happy for as long as possible. Even though, there was still a week left, she didn't have the heart to deceive him anymore. "I need to talk to you, Akira," Shizuka declared.  
  
He stiffened immediately by the tone that he heard. As much as he'd wanted to talk to her, he didn't want to hear her say something that'd crush his hope. It was more than her voice that convinced him it was going to be bad, it was the regretful expression written on her that truly alarmed him. What she wanted to say wasn't going to be good news.  
  
But he wasn't a coward. He was brave. So he would listen. "What do you want to tell me?" he asked in a forced cheerfulness.  
  
She met him, eye to eye. She was not a coward either. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself against his impending reaction, she stated simply, "I'm going back to France next weekend. I'm going to go back to continue my studies." There was an extremely long and awkward pause, before she murmured, "Akira?"  
  
His face fell into his hands. He didn't, hadn't expected that. If she hadn't wanted to have a relationship, that would have been less surprising. After all, she was Toudou Shizuka, one of the most desirable and eligible women in Tokyo. At least, if she stayed and kindly let him down, he could still admire her from afar and perhaps win her over one day in the future.  
  
But if she went back to France, if she went away, he had this feeling that she most likely wouldn't be coming back. From the seriousness in her tone and in her expression, she'd thought about this for a long time. Once Shizuka made up her mind, it was impossible to get her to change her mind.  
  
~ *  
  
"Please Shizuka!" he begged. "Don't go to France! You won't know anyone there! Think of Rui and Tsukushi, they need you!" What went unsaid was that he needed her, that he'd miss her more than anything. But both of them knew that unspoken appeal.  
  
The always determined Shizuka shook her head, negating his pleas to her. "I've already made my mind up," she said firmly. "I'm going to France. Rui will be fine, he has Tsukushi. Vice versa for Tsukushi, she has Rui. Those two need each other far more than they need me." Smiling at him reassuringly, she gave him a hug. "Any time you need to talk to me, all you have to do is call."  
  
With that, she kissed him on the forehead and got into the chauffeured car that would take her to the airport, where it'd bring her to her ultimate destination: Paris, France. When the car started to pull away, he ran after it, shouting her name, "Shizuka! Please don't go!"  
  
She didn't stop the car, and she didn't look back. She only went further and further away from him, off to France.  
  
~  
  
"Akira, are you going to say anything?" she inquired.  
  
Lifting his head up from his hands so that his intense eyes met hers, he asked back in a hoarse voice, "What do you want me to say?" Staring at the hurt that was so evident in his eyes, she really didn't know what she wanted him to say, what she expected him to say. She really didn't know.  
  
Author's Note: Please review, it's very helpful! Thanks. 


	16. Things Change

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
  
  
16: Things Change (January 30, 2003 to February 5, 2003)  
  
"I heard the F4 are skipping school today," Makiko remarked. "But I'm surprised that Tsukushi would skip school. She tries not to, but rumors have it that Doumyouji's older sister came back and took them somewhere."  
  
Yuki listened fascinated while Kazuya, who was next to her, appeared distraught. It wasn't like Yuki minded. She and Kazuya had gone out on one date over the weekend and had decided midway through the date that they definitely didn't suit each other as a couple. But as friends, their relationship was awesome. They could have fun together, and he could continue his adulation of Tsukushi.  
  
"I wonder what they're doing together," Yuki responded, her eyes dreamy. "At first, I didn't know what was so great about them, why the girls were so crazy about them, but now I totally understand. not only are they rich, they're handsome and they seem like they have pretty good personalities."  
  
Makiko shrugged. "I'll admit they aren't that bad," she commented. "Tsukasa is probably the worst of them, but I personally think Rui's the weirdest because you almost never see him speak. He's always holding Tsukushi's hand, somehow communicating through that media to her. Of course, Soujirou's highly popular with the girls as well as Akira, but both are kind of like playboys."  
  
"Yes," Kazuya agreed, "Rui is weird, but I think Tsukasa's worse. He's the one that always argues with my Tsukushi and teases her without mercy!"  
  
Both Makiko and Yuki rolled their eyes at Kazuya's obsessive adoration of Tsukushi. When he didn't talk about Tsuukshi, he was fine to be around, but one he started, he didn't stop until he'd gotten it out of his system. So they'd leave him alone until then because they both knew it was going to be a while.  
  
~  
  
The road trip back wasn't as fun nor as animated as the trip over. That was because of the tension between SHizuka and Akira, which caused Rui and Tsukushi to have to split up so that they could comfort each of them. Rui, of course went with Shizuka and Tsukushi went with Akira, who she was very close to. Akira was like her big brother. He was the one that took her to school everyday.  
  
Sitting in the car, Akira was driving with Sara and Soujirou in the backseat and Tsukushi, next to him in the front seat. She wished that everything could back up a few days, even a few years. It wasn't that long ago when she and Rui, Akira and Shizuka went out together as a foursome, a happy foursome of friends.  
  
Looking carefully at Akira, she only hoped that he'd calm down and see that Shizuka wasn't rejecting him. Though truthfully, she didn't know what Shizuka was trying to say to Akira by leaving so suddenly about their relationship. Shizuka should have known that Akira was a "there" type person. That he needed the person he liked to be there, while Rui didn't necessarily need her to be present to know that she cared. But Akira did, which was why Shiazuka's leaving was traumatic.  
  
Yet, she understood why Shizuka needed to leave with the parents that Shizuka had. Even she felt that she needed to escape the circle of comfort and strike out on her own and prove that she was strong enough to make it on her own, that she was a success not because of her family background but because of herself. In that she and Shizuka shared something she felt that not even Rui fully comprehended about her.  
  
While she felt sorry for Akira, he still needed to understand that if Shizuka wasn't free, then she would slowly die. Now, all she had to think was how to vocalize this to make Akira understand something that he had no idea about. That was hard; that was something she needed to do.  
  
"Akira, don't be upset with Shizuka," Tsukushi began earnestly. "She doesn't mean to hurt you, you know how her parents are. You know how she is. She needs to be free and independent to be herself. Being trapped, she will wither. Akira---"  
  
He jerked his head to her. "Don't you think I know that?! I know she needs her freedom, that's why she's going. I'm not angry that she's leaving. I'm sad because I don't think she'll come back this time."  
  
"I think she will," Tsukushi whispered fervently.  
  
He shook his head. "You weren't there when she told me she wanted to return to France. She's determined to stay. It's a feeling I have."  
  
"Even so," she remarked, "there is nothing that prevents you from going to France after her, is there? After all, she didn't reject you, all she wants is to go back to France."  
  
"I think she's running away to France."  
  
Tsukushi shook her head. "I don't think she's running, she's escaping."  
  
~  
  
In the other car, Shizuka sat in the middle of the backseat between Rui and Tsukasa with Tsubaki driving and Shigeru in the front seat beside her. The silence in the car was maddening for Tsukasa, but even he didn't have the nerve to break it. It was actually Rui that dared to voice his quiet blunt thoughts, "Why did you hurt Akira like that?"  
  
Shizuka turned to gaze upon Rui. "I didn't mean to hurt him," she responded regretfully.  
  
"You've hurt him anyway."  
  
"I'm going, Rui," she stated firmly. "You know once I make up my mind, I don't change it."  
  
He looked away from her, choosing instead to stare out of the window. It was a while before he gave her a response. "I know," he replied, "I know that you never change your mind, Shizuka." There was a distinct pause. "Do you like Akira?"  
  
Shizuka nodded. "Yes, of course, I do."  
  
Rui sighed and instead of saying anything else, he rested his head against Shizuka's shoulder and closed his eyes, going to sleep. When he had truly passed into the realm of sleep, Shizuka stared at his beautiful face and kissed his forehead, whispering so softly that only she could hear, "There are times when even you don't understand me completely."  
  
Once everyone in the car had fallen asleep, Tsubaki asked frankly, "When are you leaving?"  
  
"In a week," Shizuka answered.  
  
Tsubaki smiled. "Perfect. Change flights and stop in New York for a while before you head off to France. I think it'd be a nice change for you."  
  
Shizuka looked at the mirror so that she saw the sincerity and the friendliness in TSubaki. She was trying to help out. "I'll think about it."  
  
~  
  
When Soujirou and Sara were dropped off at his house, Sara immediately inquired, "Do you think Akira and Shizuka will patch things up soon? Because they really make a cute couple."  
  
Soujirou shrugged. "They aren't really a couple, they never have been. But Akira's crazy about her. Even though he does flirt with other girls, in his mind--- Shizuka's always been the one that's first to him."  
  
"How does Shizuka feel about him?" she asked.  
  
Soujirou shrugged again. "I don't know. She does talk to him and spend a lot of time with him, especially when they were younger. But if she felt the same way about Akira as he feels about her, I don't think she'd want to leave."  
  
Hearing these words drove a conviction through Sara's heart, that she had to tell to find out. When she caught his piercing gaze, she blushed heavily, but still managed to say, "Jirou, I want to show you something tomorrow morning okay?"  
  
He nodded, causing her to smile while his own heart was frozen in fear. He was afraid of letting their relationship take the next step. He'd already been afraid before the episode between Akira and Shizuka, now he was even more so. It was terrifying feeling to think of losing Sara as Akira was losing Shizuka.  
  
~  
  
Akira sat in his room, staring at the white washed walls, thinking about how all the girls were crazy about him and how he'd fallen for one who didn't even feel enough for him to stay. Yes, Tsukushi had mentioned the possibility of going after Shizuka to France, but if he'd wanted to go after her, he would have gone after her the first time she'd left him.  
  
Clenching his fist, he knocked the picture of Shizuka that was on the nightstand next to his bed. When the frame hit the ground, the glass shattered the picture of him and Shizuka together, looking happy together. Glancing down at the broken image, he relaxed his fist and leaned his forehead against the wall.  
  
He wished he could truly be angry as he had been last time. But this time he only felt a sickening regret. Last time, he should have gone after her. He was sure that if he'd gone then, things would have been different. But things were as they were and he would have to let her go. It was for the best. He had held on for far too long.  
  
~  
  
"Did you talk to Shizuka?" Tsukushi inquired, staring down at Rui with concerned eyes. He nodded. "What did she say?"  
  
"She said she's going and that she won't change her mind," he stated simply. "And I know she won't. I don't think it will do any good to talk to her further."  
  
"I know," she responded. " I wish we could do something for them. I still think they'd make a good couple, but that they just don't realize it."  
  
Rui shrugged and grabbed her hand, pulling her down toward him. "I want to tell our parents tonight that we want our engagement rearranged."  
  
She stared at him in amazement at his abrupt change in topics. "Why tonight?" she teased. "Why not tomorrow? What's so urgent?"  
  
He didn't answer her, he only pulled her insistently and once she'd gotten close enough he let go of her and cupped her face. Guiding her face down to his, he kissed her with a passion he couldn't contain. There was a deep urgency in this kiss, like he was reaching, reaching for something that he couldn't reach. He was reaching for something that he hadn't quite attained.  
  
When they finally parted to breath, Rui didn't let her go. He held her tightly in his arms, not loosening his hold even when he drifted off to sleep. Whenever she tried to move to make things more comfortable, he'd only hold her tighter to prevent her from escaping him. So she let him hold her throughout the night, hoping whatever was bothering him would disappear by morning.  
  
Touching her lips, the kiss he'd given her had struck her with alarm, then had overpowered her with his intense desire that went so far beyond the physical. He had been searching for something in the kiss, something she didn't think she'd given him. She brushed aside his locks and touched his lips gently, wondering what he'd been looking for in the kiss.  
  
~  
  
Staring into her mirror, Shizuka tried to calm herself. Both of her parents would be home shortly and she'd tell them of her intentions to go back to France. She felt strongly sure that France was where she belonged. She didn't know how bad their reaction was going to be, but she was sure that it wasn't going to be good. She'd tried so hard to fit into their mold of the perfect daughter, but she couldn't do that anymore.  
  
She heard the door to the mansion open, and she heard the soft conversation between her parents. Glancing one last time at the mirror, she mentally gave herself courage because the one thing she knew she had to do was return to France and find herself. With one last deep breath, she went downstairs and greeted her parents with a charming smile.  
  
"Good evening," her father responded with his greeting. "I didn't know that you were going to be home or else we would have asked you to come to dinner with us."  
  
It was now or never, she decided. "I need to talk to both of you," she stated clearly. "I think you two should sit down." Her parents glanced at each other quizzically before they sat down as she asked them to. When the had situated themselves, she continued calmly, "I have to say that I'm very happy to be back home, but I've made up my mind that I want to return to France and continue studying there."  
  
As she finished, her mother had a stunned expression and didn't seem to have the ability to make a reply. Her father looked absolutely livid as he stood up from his seat and stared with utter fury at her. "Toudou Shizuka! You are not going back to France! You are staying in Japan where you belong as the future heir!"  
  
Staring at her father with her determination gleaming in her eyes, she said in a low, but strong voice, "I am going to France, and I don't care what you two want for me. I've let you control me all my life and I'm sick and tired of it. I never wanted to go to Eitoku, I would have preferred to go to a public high school, but you denied me that opportunity.  
  
"But I won't allow you to deny me my dreams anymore! You've controlled me for far too long. I've done everything you've wanted of me, but now I want to be free of your control and go my own path. I don't want to inherit anything you have. I don't want to be a Toudou anymore. You don't have to disown me, I disown you!"  
  
Without a further word, she walked out of the house and before her parents could do anything, she was taken away by a taxi she'd arranged earlier. She vaguely heard her mother calling after her, but she didn't look back because if she did, she'd feel the pull of her daughterly duty. That was the reason she had let her father control her for all of her life.  
  
"I will not fail," she said firmly. But she'd left with hardly any money and she'd yet to buy her plane ticket to France. She had to get to France, then she'd be okay. She had friends there that would help through the hard times. But that was if she could get to France.  
  
Without having to think, she told the driver the directions to Rui's house. He hadn't liked that she had hurt Akira, but Rui wouldn't turn his back on her. He'd help her, even if she didn't want to because he was Rui. She could depend on him like no one else. She took her cell phone out and message Rui's: I'm coming to your house. I have no where else to go.  
  
~  
  
Tsukushi opened her eyes when she heard the sound of Rui's phone vibrating. She grabbed it and read on the screen that he had one new message. She clicked on the message and read it, her eyes widening considerably. If Shizuka had no place else to go, that meant she'd confronted her parents. Tsukushi felt her heart go out to the older girl, who was like a sister to her. How brave she had to be to rebel against her parents. She wished she could do the same.  
  
Focusing her attention on Rui, she nudged him to wake him up. But that didn't gain anything as he only tightened his grip on her. That was when she thought of a pleasant idea. After all, wasn't Rui always kissing her when he wanted a desired reaction from her? Why couldn't it work both ways? It was worth a shot at least. And it wasn't like it didn't feel good to kiss him. That thought caused her to blush.  
  
Rui was still lost in the hazy, undemanding world of sleep when he felt a jolt of warmth that started in one place that gradually spread to the rest of his body. He felt like he was dreaming because from what he felt, it seemed like whomever was doing to this him, this pleasure had to be Tsukushi. It ahd to be a dream because Tsukushi had never made the first move. It didn't matter if it was real or not, it was a truly wondrous dream. Besides, outside of the slumber kingdom, he could make the first move.  
  
Kissing him was definitely pleasing, but it was certainly not getting the desired response out of him. No matter what method she used that he had taught her during their numerous kisses, he just wouldn't wake up. Finally, there was nothing else she could do but close his nose and kiss him. Eventually that would get him up.  
  
The pleasant feeling still hadn't ended, though his chest was beginning to feel strained. At the back of his mind, he recognized that he wasn't getting enough oxygen. Reacting as any normal human would, he woke up and got rid of whatever was preventing him from breathing, which caused Tsukushi to be sprawled on the other side of the bed with her disarrayed clothes, looking absolutely tempting.  
  
Before he could do or say anything, Tsukushi declared in a rush, "Shizuka is coming here, she has no place else to go. I think she broke the news to her parents. You know how they are, they're worse than my parents. So I was trying to get you up." Not very successfully though.  
  
In a typical Tsukushi response to anything remotely disarming to her, she blushed and he smiled for it was too adorable. "I hope she's okay," Rui remarked softly. "I know how bad her parents can get."  
  
Tsukushi nodded. "I think we both know. I hope that she is okay, and I think she needs to go to France. That is what she needs to do more than anything. If she stays here when she wants to go, that won't be good for her."  
  
Author's Note: Please review, it's very helpful! Thanks. And I only tend to slow down if I think no one is reading! 


	17. Moving Action

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
17: Moving Action (February 6, 2003 to February 17, 2003)  
  
The next morning Sara was waiting at the top of a building for Soujirou to arrive. Despite the fact that it was early in the morning, she expected him to come because he'd promise to come. In a way, she'd always been meaning to tell him her feelings because she'd discovered this spot years ago. And today was the perfect day to see her declaration of love. It was sunny and clear--- most of all, beautiful.  
  
Usually time passed by far too quickly and she could only be amazed at the speed of which the minutes rolled by. But this time, time was slow and unbearable as it passed by, taking its leisurely time. Glancing down at her watch, she had told Soujirou to be there at 6:15, now it was already 6:30 and the sign was gleaming on the side of the building, Suki Jirou. The tears rolled off her cheeks for the a few minutes was only visible for a few minutes. She cried because she knew Soujirou had deliberately not come. She had her answer after all these years.  
  
"Mom," she called later on her cell phone, "I'm going home today."  
  
~  
  
He was in his room, pacing up and down, back and forth, from 5:00 to 6:00, when he'd finally flew out of his room and made it to the spot in record time. He still wasn't late, but standing on the street outside of the building. He couldn't make himself go inside and hear something that would forever change their relationship.  
  
So the minutes ticked up and he didn't go, he didn't go. Finally, after the time had passed, he rushed into the buildings and up the stairs to the rooftop Sara had made him promise to go. When he got there, he saw nothing, worry and fear started to gnaw at him when he saw a girl standing by the edge, looking out.  
  
"Sara," he cried out to her, "I'm sorry I'm late."  
  
When the girl turned around, he received the shock of a lifetime, it wasn't Sara. When Yuki turned around, she was astonished at whom she had to tell the message the girl, Sara had asked her with tears to tell him. She had formed quite a bad opinion of the boy and to discover it was one of the boys of the F4, someone she admired and adored was crushing. She'd expected more out of them.  
  
"Nishikado Soujirou," she murmured.  
  
His eyebrow arched up with inquiry because it was obvious that he didn't know who she was even though she knew who he was. It was then that he noticed that she was wearing an Eitoku uniform, no wonder she knew who he was. "Who are you?" he asked irritatedly.  
  
"Someone who has a message to give to you from Sara."  
  
"Then give it to me!" he exclaimed with his anxiety and frustration and worry.  
  
She looked at him with an irritated frustration of her own, which surprised him because at first he'd thought her to be a nice, happy girl like Sara. "She told me to tell you that she's leaving." Having said what was requested of her, she brushed passed him and headed down the stairs where she sped off toward her classes at Eitoku. She couldn't afford to be late.  
  
He watched her go with intrigue because it'd been a long time since he'd met a girl with life about her. But as much as he'd like to muse about her, he had to find Sara, find Sara before she left. Yet, he felt torn between wanting to chase after this girl, this strange girl or to go after his very best friend, the one who understood him better than anyone.  
  
~  
  
It was another bad morning for the Doumyouji household as Tsukasa was running around entirely hounded by Tsubaki because he was running late for school. Finally, he couldn't stand if anymore and he shouted, "I'm only running half an hour late!"  
  
"A half hour far too late!" his sister exclaimed back, he should know better than to think that he could win against his sister. Before he could do anything, she threw his bag at him, hitting him squarely on the head, almost knocking him out. But luckily it didn't and he ducked into his car, going to school to escape his insane sister. She was always like this when he was late to class and he didn't know why. It wasn't like Eitoku was going to prevent him from graduating, not with how much his family had already donated. Besides, his family owned this school.  
  
His foot slammed on the break as his eyes widened. It couldn't be, could it? The girl that was as late as he was looked far too much like Shigeru. What was she doing at his school at this hour? What was she doing here? He wasn't quite sure if it was her until she turned around and he saw her face. It was undeniably her. The girl was Shigeru.  
  
He got out of his car quickly and went to her, grabbing her by the arm and turning her to face him, "What are you doing here?!"  
  
She chuckled and glanced up at him with a teasing expression. "Why do you think I'm here?" she inquired back.  
  
"I don't know!" he shouted. "That's why I'm asking you. Don't you get it?"  
  
She waited until he stayed quiet long enough for her to answer him, "I'm switching schools. I'm transferring to Eitoku to help you charm Tsukushi!" she finished cheerfully. "And to keep her company of course. You didn't think I cam here for you, did you?" From his perplexed expression, she concluded that he did and that made her laugh and tease him even more, "Oh, you did think that. Very well to make your ego feel better, I cam here because of you, does that make you feel better?"  
  
"GRRRR!" he growled. "Who said I wanted you at my school?"  
  
Her positively charming smile widened, and she linked her arms through his. "Of course you don't, but if I wasn't here, you'd definitely screw things up with Tsukushi, so follow my lead, will you? You might still have a chance with her."  
  
Tsukasa sighed heavily and let Shigeru drag them both to class. He didn't think he had a chance anymore and that depressed him, but he couldn't help but get excited by Shigeru's enthusiasm. It was infection, and he didn't like feeling melancholy, it was truly a weird feeling for him. He didn't like it at all. And Shigeru didn't make him feel sad, anything but.  
  
So he let her lead him through the rest of his classes, a bit amused to see the knives the other girls were throwing at her because she was holding onto his arm. He didn't understand the girl at Eitoku. They were boring; they were always trying to latch onto him. For Shigeru's ability to get his mind off Tsukushi and to keep other girls from grabbing his arm, he was eternally grateful.  
  
~  
  
Rui smiled waking up next to Tsukushi the next morning. He wanted everyday to be like this. To wake up next the one he wanted by his side was an amazing feeling. But there were things to do which was why he'd already arranged a meeting between his parents and her parents to rearrange the engagement. It was a plan that had been forming in his mind since they had first made up.  
  
"Wake up sleepyhead," he murmured, nuzzling her neck. She nudged him away and pulled the covers over her head. "It's already noon, Tsukushi."  
  
She jerked her head out of the covers and glared at him. "You made me late for school?!" He blinked innocently. "Don't you have an alarm clock?" He shook his head. "Why not?" He shrugged. He didn't like those bothersome things that woke him up from his nice sleepy dreams. "Then why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Because she was too adorable when she was sleeping, besides he hadn't been awake for that long either.  
  
"You needed the sleep," Shigeru stated from where she was standing at the doorway. Shizuka had been an integral part of helping him finalize the meeting between the parents this morning. "After helping through the night, you definitely needed some down time, Tsukushi."  
  
Tsukushi stared carefully at Shizuka. "Are you okay?" Shizuka smiled back. "You are better." They shared an understanding between them that drew them together as sisters when Shizuka had broken down crying yesterday because she was being weakened by her parents once more. All she'd ever wanted was a life of her own, was that too much to ask?  
  
Having been through the same crisis, Tsukushi had perfectly understood this. So while Rui slept, both girls had confronted their fears of letting their parents control and manipulate them straight on. They had made a pact that they'd always remain strong together forever. In making this vow, Tsukushi hoped that her own sky high dreams were realized soon.  
  
"You two had better be getting to school," Shigeru remarked. "The car's already ready out front for you two."  
  
~  
  
The lunch at Eitoku was incredibly uncomfortable for neither Tsukasa nor Shigeru wanted to say anything to disturb Akira, considering what he had been through for the past few days with Shizuka and all. What made it even more awkward was when Soujirou finally arrived with an utterly distraught expression. All three of them knew something very major had occurred.  
  
"I can't find her!" he exclaimed. "I've looked everywhere and I can't find her. I have to keep looking, but I don't know where to look. Where possibly she might be. I don't know." Soujirou would have kept babbling onward but Akira stopped him from doing that.  
  
"What exactly happened?" Akira asked. "What's wrong?"  
  
So Soujirou explained the whole story, how Sara had asked to meet him somewhere, obviously to tell him her feelings. To make a long story short, he'd been afraid to go and he hadn't been intending to go, even though he had promised her to go. And when he had gone to the meeting place, he hadn't gone up... he hadn't because he'd been afraid of, afraid of...  
  
"Commitment," Akira finished for him before to the amazement of all at the table, he burst out laughing like a banshee, a wild thing--- entirely uncontrollably. They didn't know how he managed to stop himself, but he managed to. "It's funny," he declared solemnly, "that you are afraid of commitment, but I am not--- yet Sara wants a relationship and Shizuka doesn't."  
  
Before anyone could say anything, Akira took his tray and dumped it into the trash can as he walked out of the cafeteria. None of the boys knew what to say, but Shigeru summed it up into words perfectly, "Wooh... I wasn't expecting that."  
  
Neither had Soujirou or Tsukasa.  
  
~  
  
"Look who decided to arrive," Soujirou drawled as Rui and Tsukushi made their late entrance. "Where have you two been?" His eyes widened as it hit him that they had arrived together. "What have you two been doing?"  
  
Rui blinked and Tsukushi blushed. Behind Soujirou, Tsukasa went red in the face, while Shigeru simply smiled. Before any of the others could do anything, she took Rui by the arm and asked, "I heard that you played an instrument. I love music, will you play something for me?"  
  
Shigeru dragged a helpless and unwilling Rui off to the recital room, hoping that he played well because she couldn't stand it if he played horribly. After those two had left, an awkward silence developed between Tsukasa and Tsukushi until Soujirou interrupted with a cough, "I need to go run after Sara."  
  
Tsukasa nodded and Soujirou ran off. He disliked it when things became as uncomfortable as they clearly were now. I wasn't like him to say nothing to her, but everything he said invariable were insults. He definitely didn't want to insult her, so he kept his mouth shut tight.  
  
"What is Shigeru doing here?" Tsukushi questioned, attempting to break the disquieting silence.  
  
Tsukasa mentally sighed with relief when she inquired thus because it gave him the chance to speak without saying something mean to her. "She transferred to this school," he explained. "I guess she thought Eitoku was the better school, which it is."  
  
Tsukushi smiled at his arrogance and his innocence. "She really must like you to switch schools for you," she commented. "I mean staring in a new school isn't easy."  
  
"She does not!" he exclaimed vehemently. "She is just trying to help me get---" He managed to stop himself in time when he realized that he was about to blow his cover. "Eh, maybe she does," he finished lamely.  
  
Tsukushi gave him an utterly strange look, but this time the bell rang signaling the end of lunch and the renewal of classes. Usually Tsukasa hated going to classes, but he had this class with Tsukushi, which mean he could stare at her dreamily, while she took notes like a crazy person. Oh, his Tsukushi.  
  
~  
  
The last place Soujirou had thought to look was his house and when he burst into the room that Sara was staying in, he found nothing of hers. Everything was gone. The only thing left was a letter that he didn't want to read, but he had to:  
  
Jirou, I'm sorry for running out of you, but the realization that we are only friends is crushing me. I hope you understand. I sincerely hope that when I get over this crushing feeling, we can still be friends. Yours, Sara.  
  
He let the letter fall from his hands. He felt horrible for causing Sara that pain, but there was no helping it because he still didn't know how he felt. In the end, he had caused her pain, but he hadn't lost her as he thought he would. He had gravely underestimated Sara's fortitude. But he doubted, despite what she said, that things would ever be quite the same.  
  
~  
  
Tsukasa didn't even get much of a chance to talk to Tsukasa because as soon as class was over Rui came to get her and drag her off. Shigeru had tried to get him to play another piece for her, but to no avail. He was determined to get where he was going and she couldn't stop him from getting there.  
  
Both of them watched the duo leave with surprise written on their respective faces. "I wonder what that was all about," Shigeru remarked. "Wherever they're going must be important."  
  
"Maybe you scared him off," Tsukasa retorted.  
  
Shigeru stared at him with amusement. "I don't think Rui scares so easily, I think you scare more easily than he does."  
  
Tsukasa scoffed at that idea. "Rui's always been the baby of the group, always has been. It's because Shizuka and Tsukushi have babied him too much."  
  
"Well whose the one that's got the girl?" Shigeru countered.  
  
That definitely caught Tsukasa's attention and made him growl in indignation. "Their parents arranged that," he sputtered his response. "It wasn't like Rui himself asked her to marry him!"  
  
Shigeru didn't say anything, but the expression she had was filled with thought and reflection.  
  
~  
  
"What is all this about?!" Tsukushi cried out after surveying herself in the mirror. Though her voice seemed upset, she wasn't by a long shot. She'd never looked as absolutely beautiful as she looked now. Rui had arranged hair and nail and makeup appointments, overseeing the entire process and even making suggestions of his own. He definitely knew what made her look her best.  
  
Rui grinned. "You will see when we get there," he explained calmly, nothing perturbed him. "There is nothing to worry about." He studied her carefully along with the pale yellow dress he'd picked out that flattered her figure considerably. "You look beautiful."  
  
As he thought, she was too busy blushing to question him further as he made the rest of the last minute preparations. He didn't care what the costs came out to be, he wanted this night to be special. He thanked his lucky stars that Shizuka was here to help because he knew he couldn't do it without her. Definitely not. Most of all, he was glad he had her approval for that meant more to him than his parents'.  
  
Of course, they barely made it to the restaurant before their parents. Yet still he had not told her why he had done all these lavish preparations. He kept telling her that it was a surprise, that she'd soon find out once they got to their final destination. When they were at their destination, she immediately started asking but he still didn't answer, merely gesturing to where their parents were approaching.  
  
Her eyes widened and she glanced at Rui with astonishment. "Why are our parents here?" she inquired.  
  
He smiled mysteriously and leaned toward her to kiss her on the lips before all their parents. His parents, of course, were the most shocked as Rui was hardly the type to show public affection. But all of them were somewhat flabbergasted because they all had thought the engagement was cancelled. Obviously not with the way they were kissing.  
  
As soon as Rui's lips left Tsukushi's, she blushed a scarlet color. "I didn't know you were coming," Tsukushi greeted, trying to get her composure together after that unexpected kiss.  
  
Her parents looked at his parents, it was finally his father that asked the questions that all were wondering, "Rui, what's going on?"  
  
Rui stared at his rigid and stern father calmly as he answered in a dead serious voice, "I brought you all together because I wanted to announce that Tsukushi and I want the engagement rearranged formally, and what better occasion than today?"  
  
So that was the reason he'd brought them all together, Tsukushi thought. Her parents exchanged a bizarre look before gazing at their daughter to make sure she wanted it because she was the one who had broken it off. She smiled reassuringly, thinking that this was what they wanted--- surprisingly enough, the exact same thing that she herself wanted. All was going well until Rui's father said severely, "No, absolutely not!"  
  
All the rest of them stared at the head of the Hanazawa in absolute bewilderment. Even his wife couldn't believe what he was saying. It was entirely a surprise that he would reject the suit when their son was enamored with Tsukushi. "Why?" his mother asked for all present.  
  
"My son and my heir doesn't need to be with someone that rejected him! He can find someone better than her!"  
  
Author's Note: Please review, it's how I know that you're reading! Also, I know that it's been slow going so I hope that this chapter is sparking interest for the major conflicts ahead! 


	18. Volatile Circumstances

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
18: Volatile Circumstances (March 4, 2003 to March 29, 2003)  
  
She had managed to catch an earlier flight. Unfortunately, no one had been able to see her off. They were all busy. It was better this way because if they all gave her that sorrowful expression telling her that they didn't want her to leave, she didn't know if she could manage to leave. She was relieved to have gotten an earlier flight that allowed her to run from her controlling family and her lifestyle in Japan back to the life that she adored in France.  
  
As she passed her boarding slip to the flight attendant, she gave on final look back and was glad that no one had come to see her off. She had called Rui and Tsukushi first to tell them she wouldn't be there when they got back because she was returning to France. Then she'd called Soujirou and chatted with him briefly--- still frantically searching for Sara, after that she'd contacted Tsubaki and Tsukasa. Tsubaki had been a bit let down that she wouldn't be stopping in New York, but Shizuka had promised to drop by when she got settled in.  
  
The last person she contacted was Akira--- for him she left a voice message. He wasn't answering her calls.  
  
~  
  
"My son and my heir doesn't need to be with someone that rejected him! He can find someone better than her!" the Head of Hanazawa exclaimed. "And we will find someone better than her! The only reason we even agreed to this arrangement was because of their affection. But since your daughter has made it clear that she does not want to be with MY son and MY heir, I will not give her another chance. Your family is beneath us anyways! You are the new rich, not truly of high class."  
  
Rui's father wasn't the only one shaking with anger, indeed Tsukushi's mother was none to please with his declaration of their family's inferiority to the blue-blooded Hanazawa's. If it wasn't for her husband holding her back, Tsukushi didn't want to even think what her mother would have done. Not that she blamed her, how could Rui's father be this rigid and this unbending? It alarmed her because she didn't think Rui was like that at all. But what if... what if later he became like that? Like father, like son. That was a scary, terrifying thought.  
  
But she wasn't going to back down. She wasn't going to let Lei go without a fight, not when she finally had him. They were happy! Why couldn't his father see that it'd all been a foolish mistake? It wasn't like he had never made a mistake before. She was sure he had for human beings had this notorious ability to be anything but perfect, and that included making stupid mistakes. Much like the one she had made.  
  
"I do not think that it was Tsukushi's lack of affection for our son that made her reject him," his wife murmured soothingly, the voice of reason. "I think that in her case, she was confused. Was not I perplexed once about my feelings for you? Did it not enrage both of our parents? It is too easy for you to lose your anger with anything that affects our son. Use your logic, your rationale that scares the business world. Is it her fault for being unsure? She is certain now, and it is clear to me that she does deeply feel for our son, Rui."  
  
Tsukushi had always liked Rui's kind gracious mother but never more than she did now. She had thought her own parents would support her; they hadn't. The only good thing was that they hadn't gone against her. Instead, it'd been Rui's gentle and kind mother that had spoken up for her. For that, she was extremely grateful. It was nice to have one friendly voice of support.  
  
"I'm young," she declared steadily to his father. "Is it so unforgivable that I made a mistake?"  
  
His father's stern eyes bore down on her strong and stubborn self with the weight of his influence behind him. It didn't make one different to her. It was true her family wasn't as well off as Rui's in prestige, but they were a respectable and rich family no one disputed that. There was no shame. Didn't he want his son to be happy?  
  
"You are young," his father agreed harshly. "So how do you know that you aren't making another mistake?"  
  
It was more than Tsukushi's mother could take. Wasn't it enough that her daughter had admitted her mistake? To have to shove it back like it was another wrong was unacceptable. They did have their family pride after all! With that thought, she went to grab Tsukushi and dragged her away when Rui wrapped his arm around her daughter's waist and prevented her from being taken away. "I love her," he declared boldly. "I don't care if you all can work it out or not. I am going to marry her."  
  
Having said all that, he pulled her with him toward the street where he flagged a taxi down. Once they were in the taxi, there was only one place left to really go. As he gave the directions to Doumyouji's mansion, he squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Everything will be okay," he reassured. "Everything will be okay."  
  
~  
  
Tsukasa sat together with Shigeru on his fluffy couch. "I'm sorry," Shigeru apologized. "I thought it'd work and that once you two got together everything would be okay. Things would just click because I see you being with her."  
  
"It's okay," he remarked graciously. "I gave up really since the hot springs trip. Me and Tsukushi might be together and things might work, but really she and Rui are suited for each other. They were childhood companions; Tsukushi was really the only one capable of reaching him. As they grew older, they only got closer. They're going to be very happy together. I'm happy for them."  
  
"Really?" she inquired. She studied him critically, trying to really discern if he was saying this because he meant it or if he was trying to meant it. After all, she was the one who had witnessed his turmoil over Tsukushi.  
  
He nodded firmly. "Yes, I am."  
  
"That's good," she responded, looking at every direction but where he was sitting.  
  
He grabbed her to get her to stop fidgeting around and look at him. "Shigeru..."  
  
"Tsukasa..."  
  
"You go first."  
  
"No, you..."  
  
"You can."  
  
She took a huge breath. Here goes nothing... "I like you!"  
  
He blinked and then grinned. "That's good."  
  
"Really?" she queried.  
  
He nodded resolutely. "Yes, really. I like you, too."  
  
"But I like you in that way!" she exclaimed like she couldn't believe that she did. "I don't care that you like another girl. I don't care that you're arrogant, overconfident, and a fool at times. I don't care that you don't appreciate your wonderful older sister or that..."  
  
"I get the point!" he retorted, cutting her off. That made her widen her eyes at him when he followed that up and closed his hand over her mouth. "You aren't so great yourself either!" he exclaimed. "You've got too much energy, and you're always giving me excessive advice when I don't want it. You're also dense, too!"  
  
"Not as dense as you!" she shouted back when his hand dropped from her lips. "You didn't even know what I liked you, did you?"  
  
How in the world to get her to shut up? Hmmm... he bent his head down when he remembered a piece of advice that Soujirou had given to him a long time ago. The move surprised both of them when his lips touched hers in an uncertain kiss. That quickly changed once Shigeru got over her initial surprise.  
  
Swiftly, she deepened the kiss until it felt like both of them were floating in some ecstatic heaven. They came crashing down to earth when a cough interrupted their tongues from interacting more. But they didn't draw apart until they heard Rui remark, "How about it, Tsukushi?"  
  
The embracing couple broke from their kiss with pink cheeks that matched Tsukushi's own. Rui noted that of them all, Tsukushi was definitely the more adorable. He'd been nicely surprised to find Tsukasa and Shigeru kissing ravenously. He'd suspected there'd been hidden passion. Of course, there was the concern that Tsukasa would still continue to pursue Tsukushi and break their friendship up--- there was no way Tsukasa could break them up.  
  
"Don't you knock?" Tsukasa growled.  
  
Rui grinned. "On what door? You're in the living room." Before Tsukasa might say anything else, Rui quickly continued, "We need help, Tsukasa or else we wouldn't have interrupted your romantic moment."  
  
That caught Tsukasa's attention and he quickly gestured for them to sit down and to explain. Alternating between the two, Tsukushi and Rui explained that their parents no longer wanted them to be together. If this information had come before Shigeru's confession, Tsukasa didn't really know how he'd feel. As it was, he felt sympathy for them and outrage against their unbending, rigid parents.  
  
"Only Rui's mother supports us," Tsukushi finished. "We can't go back to our homes, they'd prevent us from seeing one another, from being together."  
  
Rui nodded vehemently with agreement. "Can we stay here?"  
  
Tsukasa remarked, "Of course!" After saying that, he showed them to two rooms that were connected because both of them were pretty exhausted. Once that was done, Shigeru and he headed to the dining room to grab a bite to eat. "We should do something."  
  
Shigeru nodded. "Definitely. We should do something to get their parents to give their consent again!"  
  
"But what?" he inquired, trying to think of something.  
  
"Why Plan Get-Together!" Shigeru exclaimed with lots of energy. From the perplexed look on Tsukasa's face, she explained what she had in mind. Anything, anyway to get their parents in the same room. With their connection and their money, their plan was certain to succeed!  
  
~  
  
"We are miserable," Akira commented. "We are miserable men." It wasn't like Akira at all to get bitterly melancholic. Then again, he had just been kindly rejected by his love of a lifetime. Perhaps it sounded like an exaggeration, but Akira had been crazy about Shizuka since he was a little boy.  
  
His sharp words and harsh criticism certainly stemmed from the ten shots of vodka he'd downed in as little time as possible. Soujirou couldn't lecture Akira since he'd at least equaled Akira in the amount of alcohol his best friend had consumed. But Akira wasn't handling it well. He was handling it very poorly.  
  
Drinking was suppose to numb the pain. In Akira's case, it was only making it worse. He was sinking to the depth of his depression at an alarming rate. "We aren't miserable men," Soujirou countered, taking Akira's shot glass away from him. "And I don't want you to come drinking with me to get sad. I wanted you to be happy or at least numb your sorrow."  
  
Akira gazed at Soujirou with a disbelieving look and then burst out laughing in a harshly maniac manner. When he was finally able to control his sick laughter, he said in a soft menacing voice, "Don't try to lecture me, you fool. At least your girl wanted you--- mine didn't. Do you know what a damn shitty feeling that is?"  
  
"What good is it to wallow in your misery when you can do something about it?" Soujirou retorted. "You say I'm the fool, but you're the lovesick puppy. Yes, I have feelings for Sara, but not in that fashion. When she first left--- I thought maybe. Now, I know that I just hate causing her pain. She is like my sister, like you're my brother."  
  
"When did you turn philosophical?" Akira sneered.  
  
Soujirou knocked aside the glass and grabbed his friend's hands in his firm grip. "I don't like seeing Sara in pain, and I certainly don't like seeing you in pain. I know you don't want to go after Shizuka because of your pride. But do you want your pride at the cost of the regret that will always linger?  
  
"Because I'm sorry to say--- Shizuka's absolutely gorgeous. If you won't chase after her, there are a slew of other guys that will," Soujirou warned. "Some of those guys will be better than you..."  
  
"But they won't love her like I do," Akira cut in fiercely. "They won't love her as much as I do."  
  
"Then," Soujirou responded, "go after her. My friend, if you really love her as much as you say that you do, then you'd have never let her go."  
  
The silence between them was filled with incredible tension. Their eyes met occasionally before Akira would look away like he couldn't handle Soujirou's challenging look. Finally after several minutes had passed, Akira started nodding his head violently. "I will not... let her go."  
  
Soujirou grinned widely and started dialing on his cell phone for the earliest flight out of Taiwan to France. When he was done ordering and putting the ticket on his credit card, he grabbed Akira's hand and started dragging him out of the club. Before Akira could ask about the time, Soujirou answered him, "You lucky bastard, a flight leaves in two hours. We need to get home and get your passport."  
  
"If I was a lucky bastard," Akira began sharply, "then I wouldn't have to be chasing after her."  
  
"But," Soujirou interrupted cheerfully, "if she was chasing after you, you wouldn't be mad for her. It's the man's job to do the chasing. It makes it more interesting you have to admit."  
  
"Only for you," Akira retorted. "Only for you."  
  
~  
  
While Tsukasa and Shigeru were plotting on Rui's and Tsukushi's behalf, the very same idea was occurring between Ms. Hanazawa and Mr. Makino. Being less hotheaded than their respective partners, they clearly saw how good Tsukushi and Rui were together. "We have to do something," Tsukushi's father remarked. "If we let this continue on, my wife and your husband will ruin a good thing!"  
  
"Yes," the softly spoken mother of Rui responded, "but how are we going to meet up and really discuss it? My husband's going to notice soon that I'm not in bed with him. He's a light sleeper."  
  
"Any time slots tomorrow that you are free?" he inquired.  
  
She thought for a moment before answering, "Anytime late tomorrow morning will be fine. I can also have lunch with you if that will give us enough time."  
  
"That should give us plenty of time," he replied. "How about 11:00 at..."  
  
After they finished discussing their plans with each other, they went back to their beds where Mr. Makino met his wife snoring loudly, not missing him at all. The story was quite different for Ms. Hanazawa. When she got back into the room, her husband blatantly asked her, "Who were you talking to?"  
  
"The person who I'm having lunch with tomorrow," she responded vaguely on purpose, hoping that he wouldn't question her further. Of course that didn't get her husband off her back. He gave her a look that said that she needed to answer him more thoroughly. "It was Doumyouji Kaede." She didn't know why she said that awful woman's name, but she knew her husband wasn't on speaking terms with that woman. The odd look he gave her made her wince inside and caused her to have to explain to him, "It's about the graduation party."  
  
"I'm surprised," he said dryly. "She's not the mother you like to arrange things with. It's usually Ms. Mimasaka."  
  
She shrugged. "All 4 of us have to." She got back into bed and kissed her husband. "I'm tired, let's go to sleep."  
  
It was a while before he drifted off to sleep. There was something up with his wife. She didn't lie well, and she didn't usually lie either. Was she having an affair? The sudden burning rage overwhelmed him as he reached to hold her in his arms. Twenty years ago, he had won her from her slew of other suitors and he wasn't about to lose her now. Definitely not.  
  
But he wasn't going to sit back and let her cheat on him either. He had to keep a tighter fist on her even if it meant making up assignments for her and wasting money. What was money compared to her? She was everything that he prized beyond anything else. It'd always been that way.  
  
~  
  
Soujirou was the one that had called everyone to let them know that Akira was heading to France to chase after Shizuka. Tsukasa and Shigeru went to see him off and explain to them why Rui and Tsukushi weren't there. When Akira heard what had happened, he shook his head with disappointment at their headstrong parents.  
  
"I don't know when I'll be back," Akira remarked. "Tell Tsukushi she'll have to drive herself to school now or get Rui to. Tell them that I hope the best for them and that I'll inform Shizuka. I'll miss you guys." He gave them each a hug before picking up his sack and heading toward the boarding area.  
  
"I hope he gets her back," Soujirou commented.  
  
"So do I," Tsukasa agreed.  
  
Shigeru grinned. "He will. Girls liked to be pursued by the one they like and Shizuka likes him."  
  
~  
  
Author's Note: Yeah, I know it's been a long time. I haven't been writing in this story for 2 months because I got bored with him as I do when I hit about 50,000 words (it's happening to the LoTR fanfic, which was what I had been writing) and as I tend to do, I switch fandoms. Now for some reason, I'm intensely interested in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I doubt I'd write a fanfic in that fandom, so breath with relief! I'm back for the long haul (which means I WILL FINISH THIS) reviews certainly make me happier to comply faster with it. Can I say... everything's happening now? 


	19. Kidnapping Fiasco

Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)  
  
Author: Yih  
  
19: Kidnapping Fiasco (March 31, 2003 to May 16, 2003)  
  
Things were almost normal. Almost. Shizuka was gone and Akira had gone after her. Two of their group was missing but besides that Rui and Tsukushi were living in Tsukasa's mansion--- nothing else was out of the norm. They all want to school together; they all hanged out at clubs in the night like old times. It was to Tsukushi's immense relief that she realized that Tsukasa had stopped pursuing her.  
  
Actually as she observed Tsukasa's and Shigeru's animal and argumentative conversation, she thought the two of them suited each other perfectly. They were too cute together, too adorable. "Have any of heard from Akira yet?" Soujirou inquired. "It's been days."  
  
"Yes, it has been," Tsukushi agree, worry appearing the lines of her forehead. "I wonder when he is going to contact us... maybe we should call them."  
  
Rui grabbed her hand before her fingers touched the cell phone. "You don't want to disturb them," he stated vaguely and blandly.  
  
Everyone turned their eyes toward Rui to stare at him hard. It was Tsukasa that voiced their train of thoughts the best. "You knew and you didn't say anything?!"  
  
Rui shrugged, waiting for Tsukasa to sit down before he'd explain himself. Shigeru sense what Rui was waiting for so she grabbed Tsukasa by the arm and pulled him down to his seat.  
  
"Shizuka messaged me last night," Rui began, " to tell me that everything was fine and that they've been very busy together, which is why they haven't been able to contact us about their relationship." He smiled sweetly. "They are back together."  
  
~  
  
Yes, they were back together--- officially together in a big way. Akira wrapped his arms around Shizuka's sleeping form to draw her closer to him. He couldn't believe how wonderfully happy he was with her. It was unbelievable how complete he felt when he was with her. He felt it truly was true what people said about people being half a soul and finding completion when they met their soul mate.  
  
Snuggling closer to her, he kissed her forehead gently, making sure that he didn't disturb her from her sleep. She had a huge examination tomorrow to test into the premiere law school program in France. He truly hoped that she got into the program; he knew how hard she'd studied ever since she'd arrived in France.  
  
She opened her eyes and kissed him back on the lips. "I'm sorry," he apologized, gazing deeply into her eyes. "I didn't meant to wake you up."  
  
"It's okay," she murmured. "I don't mind being woken up by you. So how long have you been watching me sleep?"  
  
Akira blushed sheepishly because he'd been gazing at her beautiful and beloved form for the longest time. "I don't know," he admitted honestly. "A while."  
  
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck to draw him down onto her chest. "Sleep," she commanded as she closed her eyes. "You need to rest too," she reminded him. "You need to finish up your courses for the year as well."  
  
He nodded and cuddled up closer to her, letting his eyes finally rest. But he found it hard to fully relax against her luscious form. She was truly tempting to him. But what Shizuka said was true, that he needed rest too. With that thought he forced himself to count chickens to zone his mind out.  
  
~  
  
"We have a plan," Shigeru declared, " to get your parents to accept your relationship with Rui." The two girls were having a private moment together, refreshing themselves at the extravagant restaurant's restroom. "Tsukasa thought that his nanny's suggestion of Rui getting your pregnant was absurd, but it would work. Instead, we think a kidnapping would work even better and be very reasonable."  
  
Tsukushi's eyes were popped open in the distressing sign of her surprise. "Kidnapped? Plan? What? Why?" she sputtered these out in her shock although she knew vaguely where this was all coming. Trust Tsukasa and Shigeru to agree on this kind of plan, they were too similar in some respects. Dangerous to be working together.  
  
"Why to get you and Rui together again!" Shigeru exclaimed with her infectious eager in a manner that screamed, 'what else could it be?' "I think it will work quite well because it'll ally your families together in their attempt to rescue you both. Besides the guys we have hired are professional kidnappers that do it for hire. And we're paying them to keep you in a secluded area outside of Tokyo. Think of how romantic it'll be for you and Rui! Alone together!"  
  
"Won't the kidnappers be there?" Tsukushi queried.  
  
Shigeru nodded affirmatively. "But they will be occupying a separate cabin. We had the idea and guess who arranged it before she left? The wonderful Tsubaki!"  
  
"Do you really think this is going to work?"  
  
"Yes," Shigeru answered with absolute certainty, "I'm sure. I mean both families will be anxious and worried about you and Rui. They will have to come together! Join forces!"  
  
Even with Shigeru's enthusiasm, Tsukushi still wasn't so sure that this marvelous plan that they had was going to work out as well as they thought it would. But at least as Rui pointed out to her, they really didn't have any better ideas and it did give them time to be alone together. That was certainly going to be nice. With the three of them for it, how could she say no?  
  
~  
  
Rui and Tsukushi were promptly kidnapped at 8:00 am on a Monday morning so that they didn't have to wait another moment or waste one with the tedium of school. While Tsukushi regretted missing school, none of the other four were agreeing with her at that point. It some times frustrated her, but she had gotten use to it. After all, she'd already agreed to it.  
  
It was better if they didn't show up anyway. The school would notify their parents that they were missing when the couple didn't show up. Well, all were betting that it took a while. It gave Rui and Tsukushi the perfect opportunity to get romantic--- that is if they took advantage of it. None of them had any doubts on Rui's persuasion skills with Tsukushi, they were worried about Tsukushi's natural tendency to be a prude.  
  
"You are getting way too hopeful," Soujirou muttered as he leaned his back against the wall, waiting for the monotonous day to begin. He'd been forced to come early by Tsukasa because the big idiot had insisted for no real reason. What was so special about a fake kidnapping? It wasn't like it couldn't be seen on reality TV. "The chances that Tsukushi does anything with Rui is slim. She's a true prude at heart."  
  
"Well," Tsukasa remarked, "it is Rui we're talking about."  
  
Soujirou nodded. He had to agree with that. "He can certainly convince her of things that aren't normally possible, but Tsukushi is still Tsukushi."  
  
"That's true," Tsukasa admitted.  
  
"You two are guys, right?" Tsukasa and Soujirou aimed systematic glares at Shigeru. "Well normal guys talk about how far a couple will get, not how they're definitely not going to do anything. That's definitely not typical guy talk."  
  
"She's kissed Rui."  
  
"But that's just kissing!"  
  
Shigeru rolled her eyes; she guessed she was wrong about them after all. They were definitely the normal, horny teenage boys she suspected them of being. What a big surprise. Indeed, this was what she'd been fully expecting. But the fact that they had seemed abnormal got her hopes up momentarily. She shouldn't have even thought they were any different. Typical, far too typical.  
  
"It's too bad Tsukushi's not going to have sex with Rui."  
  
~  
  
The car ride reminded them of the memories of the one they had been coerced into by Tsubaki. But this time they were together and happy. In the backseat of the car, Rui snuggled against Tsukushi's shoulder and with enough time, eventually fell asleep. But before he fell into his slumber land, they talked with their fingers and hands for the longest time. It felt like old times again.  
  
"Do you think this will work?" Tsukushi asked, scribbling her question into the palm of his hand carefully. "I mean, you know your father better than I do, better than anyone."  
  
"How do you think your mother will handle it?" he inquired back before he answered her question. "And I really don't know if this will work, but it's the only idea that we have to work on. It's not like we have a better plan. We should at least attempt this."  
  
"That's true," she agreed. She entwined their hands together with their free hands. "What do you want to do there for the time that we are there?" They both personally knew that they'd be there for a while before either of their sets of parents figured out that they were gone. Their parents were far too concern with business matters to notice that they were gone.  
  
He shrugged, his eyes gazing up at hers with absolute tenderness. "Anything you want, Tsukushi, as long as you are happy--- I'm happy."  
  
She smiled beautifully. "You are wonderful."  
  
He shook his head and squeezed her hand. "You are the one that is wonderful." When her eyes were looking into his, he said strongly and firmly, "I love you, Tsukushi."  
  
If possible the smile became eve more glorious and gorgeous on her glowing face. "I know. I love you, too," she murmured into his ear. "You know what?"  
  
"What?" he asked huskily.  
  
"Even if it doesn't work out, our parents will have to accept that we're going to be together because," she explained to him the epiphany she had realized in her prophetic vision, "I cannot live without you by my side."  
  
He smiled back reassuringly. "I cannot live without you either."  
  
~  
  
"Good day," greeted Ms. Hanazawa amicably to Mr. Makino. "How do you do? I trust that your business is going well and that you are in good health?"  
  
"I am very good," he responded with a cheerful, easy going smile. "Very good, good business and good health." His eyes twinkled with its customary friendliness. "How are you, Ms. Hanazawa?"  
  
"Very well, thank you," she answered, his infectious joy causing her to smile as well. "Shall we get down to the business at hand?"  
  
He nodded. "I asked you to come here today because I had an idea that might work..." That caught her attention and she learned closer to him so that they could discuss matters with more privacy than the bustling restaurant allowed them to. "What do you think of my idea?"  
  
She leaned back into her chair, lifting her hand to rest her head against it as she studiously considered the idea that he had proposed. "I think it may work," she replied reservedly, but her eagerness was betrayed with the light in her eyes. The gleam told him that she thought it was a decidedly excellent course of action.  
  
"Very good," he remarked. "I'll start then..."  
  
~  
  
"Well?" Mr. Hanazawa almost growled with his menacing voice. "What did you find out? Who was she with?" he asked sharply and harshly, using the same tone he used to intimidate his business rivals. It was quite effectively, he saw the man on the other side of his desk try not to cower against the wall behind him. "What were they talking about? Why were they meeting?"  
  
The investigator he'd hired to spy on his wife gulped because he knew the Head of Hanazawa was extremely daunting to disappoint. He'd worked with him before, but never with such a personal matter like this. He was afraid if he gave Mr. Hanazawa an answer he didn't like... what would happen. Without even answering him, he handed over the report for Mr. Hanazawa to flip through for a while before he launched into his full verbal report, "As you see..."  
  
"Your wife went to eat lunch with a man around your age. We have no real clue what they were discussing because the restaurant was far too noisy, but we don't think that they knew each other very well. Their body language was very formal."  
  
The anger on Mr. Hanazawa's face was unmistakable and it caused the investigator to take a cautionary step back. "Of course my wife would not behave anything but formal in public! She is the perfect lady! Why did you leave," he continued to growl out, "if you have no information?"  
  
"Because they didn't leave together..." the investigator stuttered, stumbling quite unprofessionally over his words.  
  
Mr. Hanazawa waved his hands impatiently in dismissal, which the investigator seized immediately. Once the incompetent man had left, the Head of Hanazawa sighed and leaned back against his chair. His wife had lied to him and had gone to see another man. He clenched his fist tightly. She had some explaining to do when she got home, tremendous explaining to do.  
  
~  
  
Despite the long car ride toward their kidnapping retreat, when they arrived at the house they were going to stay at, they ran up the stairs and promptly attacked the bed. "I'm pick up your habits," she commented cheerfully as she rested her head on the pillows while he rested his head on her stomach. "I want to sleep all the time now."  
  
He nuzzled her with his nose and smiled briefly at her declaration. "There's a good hot spring we can relax in later when you feel like it. I know how stressed out you feel, but even if our parents don't accept our relationship, it'll be okay because I'm not giving you up."  
  
She smiled when he said this and leaned down to kiss his nose. When she did that, he cupped her by the face and drew her back down for a dizzyingly deep kiss. With extreme tenderness he probed her mouth with his tongue, groaning when he tasted her sweetness. When her tongue timidly touched his own, he wrapped his arms tightly around her.  
  
The whirlwind kiss continued until they both ran out of breath. When they drew away from each other, they were both breathing heavily and their eyes were dilated. "Rui?" she murmured, her voice ragged with barely concealed desire. "How about we go to the hot springs now?"  
  
"Are you sure?" he questioned.  
  
She grinned cheekily. "You'll enjoy it, won't you?"  
  
He nodded. He would enjoy it very much. "Yes."  
  
~  
  
Author's Note: I hope and pray there is only one more chapter. I don't know though. But I hope to wrap it up in one more chapter. This chapter is short (size of the first chapter), but hopefully the last chapter will be longer. I just hope I can churn out one more chapter. 


End file.
